For Alice's Eyes
by rodwyn
Summary: Alice Chaplin was an ordinary teenage girl. Except for the fact that she wasn't. She was nearly too young to take care of herself, much less someone else. But when Max attracts the attention of a certain winter spirit, Alice is thrown into a world she doesn't know exists. It's not all lollipops and candy canes though. Even in fairy tales there are monsters. JackxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 _"All those days watching from the windows,_

 _All those years outside looking in._

 _All that time never even knowing,_

 _Just how blind I've been."_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

* * *

There had been a weird feeling settling in pit of Jack's stomach for a while now.

After the defeat of Pitch Black and Jack's coronation as an official Guardian, Jack couldn't stop the nagging pull in the back of his head that something wasn't right. And what bothered him almost more than the feeling itself was the fact that he couldn't decide if it was a bad thing or not. At least, in the sense that something bad was going to happen. He wasn't very experienced with bad feelings and didn't know if he fared well or not in his sense of foreboding. Being lost, however, was a feeling he knew all too well. It was probably the only thing he was particularly good at besides snowball fights.

For the past three hundred years, Jack always felt like a piece of him was missing. He assumed a child finally believing in him was that missing piece, but then the fight with Pitch reared its ugly head and he thought maybe surviving that fight would make him feel normal again. Not that he really knew what being normal felt like. He was sure he was normal once, a long time ago, but after so long the concept of normality was lost on him.

After he came out victorious with the rest of the Guardians and became an official Guardian of his own, he was certain the strange feeling would go away. But it hadn't.

It frustrated him because he was able to discern the feeling in a couple different ways. His first theory was that Pitch Black's reign, however short-lived it was, was only the first domino to fall and there were worse battles in store for the Guardians. And in these battles, not all would make it out alive. Sandy almost hadn't with Pitch – they got lucky. Surely they weren't going to be so fortunate a second time.

This was the theory he feared the most. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost one of them. The thought of living in a world where one of them didn't exist was unfathomable. And knowing that he was immortal; that he would live through all the ages of this world and the next without seeing them again made him sick to his stomach.

His second theory was that he hadn't found his true purpose. This one he could handle, but he still couldn't wrap his head around the possibility. For three centuries he was in the dark, not knowing who he was or why he existed. After the veil was pulled back and his eyes were opened to this world of Guardians and being the protector of children, he felt relieved. He finally discovered who he was meant to be and though there was resentment bubbling beneath the surface at the Man in the Moon for leading him on a wild goose chase for three hundred years, he was able to keep that anger at bay.

A time would come when he would be able to face MiM, but that day was long into the future. His heart had been smothered in darkness for so long; his mind taken by that rage that he was surprised he was able to escape it. He didn't want to go back to that. Not after knowing what he did now. So he held it back.

And then there was the third theory.

Well, he wasn't quite sure if this had anything to do with that particular weird feeling. It was another weird feeling. This one may have bothered him more than the first, though it was more of a recent development.

It was regret.

Regret for Pitch's defeat.

Regret for not having found a way to somehow make them coexist. Regret for not having realized sooner how similar he and Pitch really were.

Maybe he didn't understand it before because, well, Pitch was centuries upon centuries older than Jack. Pitch had succumbed to darkness long before the notion of Jack was even conceived. The fury that had nearly swallowed Jack whole for years – the anger that he restrained… Pitch never held that back. He had delved so far into his loneliness that he was unable to come up for air. The suffocation drove him mad and the only semblance of control he could muster was, ironically enough, through chaos.

Deep down, Jack could understand that. He would never say it out loud or bring it up in casual conversation, but he got it. Inexplicable anger was something he knew quite well. He understood the desperate need to feel as though he had some sort of say in his own existence.

He and Pitch were on the same wavelength, albeit miles apart. Pitch had made that connection early on. It was why he had shown such an interest in Jack. Yet another thing Jack never took the time to realize.

Jack should know almost better than anyone that the world wasn't only in black and white. It wasn't a separation of good and evil. There was a time in Jack's existence long ago that someone may have perceived him as evil. When he would cry into the night, demanding answers and damning those who condemned him to that hell of aimless unknown.

He was able to come back from that. And the lump of regret inside him whispered, 'What if Pitch had been able to come back, too?'

Though he loathed admitting it, Jack knew that good and evil had a way of balancing each other out. He wasn't stupid. You couldn't have one without the other. That's not how the world worked. Whereas children needed hope and wonder and fun, they also needed fear. Without fear, the human race couldn't survive.

Jack never saw Pitch as a Guardian. But that's because he never took the time to dive under the surface. In reality, Pitch Black was probably the most important Guardian of all. Fear was protection against harm. Fear was the natural intuition that something bad was going to happen. It made you think twice before doing something reckless. After all, what kind of place would the world be if kids did things without being afraid of the consequences?

He was the feeling in the backs of their heads when they knew something wasn't quite right. He was the voice that whispered _stop_ because if they didn't, they were going to get hurt. He was what made their hearts race when all the lights went out and ultimately what led them back into the light again. Because they were scared of the dark. And wasn't that the greatest protection of all?

No child should be raised to believe that there was no evil in the world. After growing up, you begin to realize that the outside world was a very cruel place. They needed to learn somehow… didn't they?

It was all water under the bridge now, conquering Pitch, but that regret would probably never leave Jack. But the way Pitch had punished the children for his misgivings were unforgiveable and made his demise a bit easier to bear.

All these thoughts that had been swarming around underneath his silvery white hair made Jack feel older and wearier. Wise beyond his years, though that was a bit of a stretch. He was three centuries old now wasn't he?

Back to the original weird feeling, though. (That's all Jack's existence was now – weird feelings. Guardianship. Next time read the fine print, Frost.)

Despite the fact that it'd been eating away at him longer than he cared to remember, he was able to suppress the feeling for the most part, having more important things to do than worry about something that ultimately didn't exist.

Until suddenly, it did.

All Jack could say was one moment he was lying on a bench, glancing sleepy-eyed up at the glittering stars above in the vast night sky, and the next he was somewhere else entirely.

Jack squinted, looking around in confusion and nearly feeling whiplash as he was suddenly upright. He knew he was somewhere, but everything around him was blurred. Like the scene hadn't created itself all the way, but enough so to where it would feel familiar to him and make him comfortable. He could slightly make out the forms of trees surrounding him on all sides, dark and misshapen but still there nonetheless. The air was still and somehow wrong, and provided no level of comfort. The ground below him was a fuzzy shade of murky green. There was no movement, save for his own erratic heartbeat.

"Hello, Jack."

An odd voice startled him and he spun in the direction it came, recognizing a figure standing not twenty feet away, hooded and cloaked by shadows.

"Where am I?" he tried not to panic, fearing the worst. His eyes darted every which way as he stood alert, waiting for the inevitable shoe to drop. He felt naked without his staff.

"Asleep," came its droned response. "I am sorry for interrupting you in your dream state."

Jack knew himself well enough to know that he didn't really sleep. He could, of course, but he didn't exactly need to. And he knew for a fact that he didn't dream. One of the prices of Guardianship they never tell you about on the pamphlet. Jack couldn't remember the last time he slept and actually felt well rested afterward waking.

"I know I never came to you sooner…" the figure bowed its head in shame. A flicker of regret darted across the man's face (he was certain it was a man), though it could have been a trick of the light. Shadows were covering most of his form, making him quite indiscernible to the eyes. And something about his voice didn't sound right; every now and then it would change timbre, sometimes sounding completely different than it had on the word before.

Jack squinted again. "Who are you?"

"I don't have much time," the man continued as if he hadn't spoken and Jack was able to detect a hint of remorse. "I just wanted to apologize."

"Apologize for what?"

He then realized.

He wasn't sure what made him come to the abrupt conclusion, but the warm twinge in his gut and the figurative light bulb that flickered to life above his head told him it was so and the air seemed to shift. " _MiM?_ " he whispered, unwilling to believe it.

The man tilted his head in acknowledgement to the nickname and Jack's eyes widened comically. "You're the Man in the Moon, aren't you?"

And suddenly it all made sense. They were inside his head. The Man in the Moon must have tried to form some sort of memory that he could place himself inside of, but without having any real knowledge of what the outside world looked like, he was only able to dredge up what he could find in Jack's brain. If he looked close enough, maybe squinted a little, he was able to recognize where he was. The forest lain just on the outskirts of Burgess. If only a little colorless.

And MiM's face. The shadows cast over his front were unsettling, but as Jack didn't know what MiM looked like – or would have looked like if he were indeed a man – his mind wasn't able to conjure up a face.

"I want to apologize for a lot of things, Jack."

Jack clenched his jaw; ready to spit the words back in his face, say he didn't care, tell him to save it… anything. But for some reason, his mouth wouldn't let him. He cast a steely glare in the man's direction and waited.

"I'm sorry for taking you away from your family, and I'm sorry for not telling you who you were," the voice couldn't decide on a pitch, or which emotion to convey, so it ended up sounding like a jumbled mess. Like a bunch of audio clips compiled into one. "I know you were lost for some time, but know that that was never my intention. I assumed things would… fall into place much sooner than they had. I apologize for that."

Jack didn't know what to say so he didn't bother trying. And he had a feeling MiM knew his confession wasn't worthy of a response. This conversation was about three centuries too late.

"I'm sorry for all that I've put you through…" and suddenly there was a certain hysteria to his voice. "… but I'm afraid I've made a _terrible_ mistake."

The hairs on the back of Jack's neck stood on end. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, voice squeaking into such a high octave that he would vehemently deny if anyone asked.

"I know that it is beyond me to ask of it, but I hope that one day I will earn your forgiveness. I think I will," he added as an afterthought. "But I've made a mistake. And I pray to the Gods above that it won't be catastrophic."

Jack couldn't control his panicked breathing. The idea of a God himself praying to a higher deity didn't sit well with him. "I don't _understand_ ," he uttered through gritted teeth. If there was one thing that royally pissed him off was the fact that everyone around him spoke in riddles. Was it so hard to just _say_ what they wanted to say and get it over with? It'd be another damn _century_ before Jack figured out what the hell they were talking about.

The Man in the Moon flickered like a holograph, and the last thing Jack wanted was for him to leave now with no explanation. He couldn't _not_ tell him what was going on. Not again. "Wait—"

But MiM continued his mantra of, " _I've made a mistake, I've made a mistake, I've made a mistake,_ " and there was no getting through to him. Jack felt like he could breathe fire.

The Main in the Moon shook his head, a movement that was so utterly human that it almost floored Jack, before glancing up at him and Jack could almost see a pair of eyes glowing beneath the shadows.

"I've made a mistake," he voiced somberly one last time, tone flickering in and out of pitch and sounding otherworldly. As if there weren't creepier ways to tell Jack he was doomed. "And I hope that you are able to forgive me. One day."

And then he was earth bound. He was jerked back into consciousness and his limbs felt heavy and his eyelids weary. It took Jack a moment to realize he was still breathing deeply and he raised a pale hand to his forehead before jerking back in shock at the clammy skin. His chest felt cold, but the rest of him was unpleasantly hot and he had half a mind to bury himself in the snow like a gofer.

"What the hell," he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut and willing the uneasiness away. It took a minute or two before his body temperature cooled and his breathing calmed. He blinked his eyes rapidly up at the stars, unfazed from his plight and twinkling ever endlessly as if they could perceive they were being watched.

Once his fingers sparkled with frost once more, he swallowed thickly and was left with a sinking feeling of dread in his stomach that wouldn't go away.

"We are _fine_ ," a girl in her late teens stressed, glowering icily across the desk at the woman who had the gall to fold her arms across her chest, waves of condescension and superiority emitting off of her like a beacon. If the girl's glare became any colder, the woman would've turned to ice.

"You have to understand, Miss Chaplin, that it is my job to ask," the woman replied, exasperated. "Where is it you plan on going?"

The girl had to hold her tongue, her privacy feeling violated. Was she never going to get these retched people off her back? They constantly kept sticking their noses in her business and it was starting to grate on her nerves. It was throwing her off her game. She could _do_ this. Why was it that nobody saw that?

"Burgess, Pennsylvania," she said finally.

"Why so far?" the woman immediately asked with an undertone of suspicion, immediately jumping to conclusions.

"It is only _one_ state over," the girl uttered between her teeth. "And it's also where my aunt lives. I figured it would be better to be close to family in case—"

"In case you needed help?" the woman interrupted, eyebrows raised as if she caught her slipping up.

Feeling frazzled and undoubtedly angrier than before, the girl stood from her chair and kicked it back. "I'm done," she announced with finality, though the second she had her back turned she spun back around and pointed an accusing finger at the woman who stared back without surprise. "You people make me sick," she spat. "You're so quick to judge someone because they're young when you fail to realize or even bother trying to understand the fact that I'm good at what I do!" she felt tears burn her eyes, frustrated that her tear ducts were hardwired to her emotions, but she swallowed them down.

"You have no right to claim that you care. I can see right through it. I do what I know is best, which is more than you _pricks_ can say for yourselves. Just because I may need some help along the way does not make me incapable. It makes me human. I'm sorry if that's not good enough for you but you're just going to have to deal with it. You can take your hypercritical _bullshit_ and shove it where the sun don't shine!"

She breathed heavily for a moment, steadying her nerves, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"Do you really think it's smart to stay here? After what happened?" she asked softly, with a touch of malice. "Trying to stay here has been the _dumbest_ thing I've ever done."

The woman leaned forward in her chair, clasping her hands together. "What you need to understand is—"

"No," she shook her head. "I understand plenty. And I'm done listening to you. You had your case. I've let you crow at me for a year. It's over. We're leaving in the morning whether you like it or not, and you are on no grounds to stop me," she said lowly, inching forward. "Because you know there's no evidence against me that I _can't_ do this. I've proven it to you time and time again. So we're leaving. And you're going to stop following."

With one last glare, the girl turned on her heels and marched out of the office, bumping shoulders with the suited man standing outside the door and not looking back to apologize.

Entering the lobby, she caught sight of a small blonde-haired boy donned in a Transformers shirt, swinging his legs back and forth in a chair too big for him with a book in his lap. He looked smaller than usual under the glowing domed ceiling.

She marched towards him with a purpose, daring anyone to get in her way.

"Max," she said. The boy lifted his head in response. "Let's go. We're leaving, now."

The boy jumped up, putting his book down on the end table next to his chair before running to meet her and lacing his tiny fingers in hers. She led him out of the building, tartly shoving open one of the doors before one of the security guards could do it for her.

They walked silently down the steps that led into a congested parking lot and made their way through the maze of cars. The boy, Max, kept stealing glances up at the girl, biting his lip to keep from saying anything. He couldn't have been more than seven, though his dazzling blue eyes said otherwise. For a kid just a few years shy of ten, he had an air of maturity you didn't often find in children – especially little boys.

He watched carefully as the girl steeled her jaw and paraded forward with her chin held high. Trouble was creasing in her brows, and her eyes seemed to hold a shadow he not often saw. He tried to not let that bother him.

At last they reached a car and the girl helped him get settled in before climbing into the driver's seat, exhaling slowly the second her door was closed. She shut her eyes and took a few steady breaths, trying to ease the migraine forming behind her temples.

"Did everything go okay?" a small voice dared to ask.

She peered over at Max. She never told him what went down with Social Services. She didn't even tell them who they were. And yet, looking at him now, she wondered if maybe he'd managed to figure it all out on his own.

"Everything's fine," she tried to smile, reaching over to brush the messy hair out of his eyes. He would need a haircut when they got to Burgess. She wondered idly if her aunt would do it. "You ready to leave tomorrow?" she asked excitedly, hoping to deviate from the topic.

Max nodded, bouncing up and down in his seat with a wide grin. "I'm all packed and everything! I even put my shoes by the door so we can leave right away!"

She grinned a little to herself and put the keys in the ignition, slowly backing out of the parking space and heading for the main road. "Good job, rugrat," she commended, watching out of the corner of her eye as he seemed to beam at her praise. "Not long now, buddy," she told him warmly, turning down a small, winding street. "This time tomorrow we'll be on the road to a brand new life."

Max was awake and bouncing around the following morning before her alarm had even gone off. They were set to head out at daybreak, though the sun hadn't quite begun to rise in the sky and already they were fully clothed and packing the last remaining boxes in the car that hadn't already been sent off with the truck.

By the time dawn was painting the clouds in brilliant hues of pink and orange, the two already had their McDonald's and were on their way to Burgess, Pennsylvania.

Max was a sincerely well-behaved kid. He rarely complained, hardly asked for _anything_ and was practically an angel, and that was probably the only way they were able to make it to the small town in record time.

At noon, they pulled up to a small yet quaint yellow-painted house in the heart of Burgess just five minutes from the local park. The truck wasn't scheduled to arrive until the following day, so they only had what they could fit in the backseat and trunk of her silver sedan.

It took only twenty minutes for them to unload everything and before she had even finished placing the last box in the empty living room, Max was hopping around her again. "Can we please go to Aunt Liza's now? _Please?_ "

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly but didn't protest. It's not like they really had anything else to do.

"I suppose—" she started, only to be interrupted by a door slam as Max was already out the front door. She laughed to herself and followed in his wake, locking the door behind her and sparing another glance at their new house. There were white shutters decorating every window and pink and purple flowers straining to breach the surface of the sparkling white snow that decorated the front lawn.

The driveway had some ice and was too precarious to drive on so she had to park on the street. Max was already waiting for her dutifully by the passenger door and she gave him a noogie, smirking as he whined and attempted to fix his hair.

Her aunt only lived a block away but she drove anyway because they were going to be spending the night there as they didn't have their beds yet. She already had two bags packed in the backseat.

Before she parked the car fully, Max was tugging on the door handle impatiently.

"Calm down, dude," she chuckled, putting the car in park before unlocking the doors. Max threw himself out the door and up the slippery sidewalk that led to the two-story home's front door, chanting 'Aunt Liza! Aunt Liza!' as he skidded along.

"Be careful!" she called over the top of the car after climbing out. He slipped and slid around, thrashing his tiny legs about as he tried getting traction and if she weren't so paranoid he was going to fall and crack his head open she would have found it hilarious. "Max!" she scolded and he stopped suddenly, turning bashfully back to her with a look of apology on his face before walking the rest of the way to the front door.

He was bouncing back and forth on his heels as she approached, both bags tossed over her shoulder. The second she stepped up beside him he rang the doorbell, making little giddy noises to himself and she shook her head again.

The door flew open and Max attacked the owner, not paying much attention as to who it actually was. A girl not much taller than himself was struggling to keep the both of them upright. "Max!" she gasped, her gangly arms wrapping around him in both a hug and support.

She peeked her head over the top of Max's messy blonde hair. "Hey, Alice!"

Alice grinned at the two, wiping her ice-covered boots on the porch's welcome mat. "What's up, Pippa?" she greeted, allowing the warmth to defrost her skin as the aforementioned Pippa stepped aside – or tried to, with Max still latched onto her like a growth – to let her in.

"You've gotten taller," she quipped appreciatively.

She took her hand, placing it flat on Pippa's fuzzy white beanie before pulling it towards herself and stopping at her collarbone. "At the rate you're going, you're going to be taller than me."

Whatever Pippa had said was muffled in Max's hair and she tried spitting the strands of platinum silk out of her mouth before tackling Max to the floor. They writhed around a bit and all the commotion must've alerted everyone else in the house, for a tall, thin woman with rusty brown hair peered around the corner from the kitchen.

"Alice Chaplin!" she gasped. She made a beeline for her and Alice met her halfway, the two crashing into each other and sinking into a warm embrace.

"Aunt Liza," she breathed into the older woman's neck. "It's so good to see you."

"Oh heaven's me, look at you," the woman gushed the second she pulled away. She held Alice at arm's length and drank in the sight of the five-foot-seven nineteen year old. "You're such a woman! Oh dear, where has the time gone?"

She fussed with Alice's wildly curly, dark red-violet hair, admiring her small Buddy Holly glasses with a quirk of her lips and smoothed down the sleeves of the girl's green jacket absently as she counted the freckles on her niece's rosy cheeks. "Come on you, let's get you settled in."

She led Alice into the kitchen, allowing her to deposit their bags and her jacket on the loveseat alongside them, leaving the kids to wrestle it out in the entryway. Aunt Liza offered her a glass of water which she was quick to accept with a grateful smile. The two leaned against the counters opposite one another and exchanged smiles.

"How did it go with Social Services?" Aunt Liza eventually asked.

Alice rolled her eyes, slamming the cup down on the island with more force than she intended. "As to be expected," she spat. "They asked a bunch of useless, intrusive questions they weren't supposed to ask. The case was closed two weeks ago and they still wouldn't let up. I eventually just snapped and told them to back off. They're still trying to tell me I don't deserve custody of Max."

Aunt Liza frowned. "Persistent bunch," she mumbled, taking a ginger sip of her water.

Alice huffed and brushed her overgrown fringe out of her eyes. "Well they're not getting Max, I don't care what they say." She leaned against the island behind her, arms resting on either side and supporting her weight, and Aunt Liza's smile softly returned.

"You've grown up so fast," the woman whispered, pride swimming in her voice. Alice exhaled slowly before returning the smile, if a bit tightly. "After you took in Max, I was afraid that..." Aunt Liza stopped herself and shook the words away, bowing her head and gazing into her half empty glass without really seeing it.

"I'm proud of you," she continued fiercely, returning her dark brown eyes to Alice's light ones. "Never think for _one_ second that I'm not," she insisted vehemently. "And I love that boy as if he were my own. It's just—" she paused for a second and sighed. Alice shifted from one foot to the other, realizing that whatever was taking her aunt so long to say she probably didn't want to hear, or else the woman wouldn't be having such trouble saying it. "I wish you didn't have to grow up so fast."

Alice sighed. "Everyone has to grow up sometime, Aunt Liza," she uttered quietly.

"Not like this," her aunt countered, not unkindly. "You had plans, Ali. You knew what you were going to do with your life. You had excellent grades, universities were throwing themselves at you and you were offered a _full-ride_ scholarship," Aunt Liza stressed, eyes gleaming with delight and tone thick with emotion. "Honey, very few kids are as lucky as you."

Alice pursed her lips, tracing the dark creases and indents of the cherry wood cabinets near her feet with her eyes. Of course she knew all of this already. It was her life. It had _been_ her life, until suddenly it wasn't. It amazed her even to this day how she hadn't looked back without even a second glance. She hadn't hesitated to walk away from the future that had so intricately painted itself right before her very eyes. It had been such a whirlwind of activity that she didn't have time to wallow in self-pity or bother dwelling on the fact that maybe she resented it even just a tiny bit. She wouldn't let her thoughts stray to such a dangerous place after she was already in so deep.

The redhead swallowed carefully before returning her gaze to the older woman. "Well, that was then. This is now. I'm here now. That isn't me anymore."

Aunt Liza exhaled tiredly, rubbing a hand down her face. "Don't misunderstand me. Like I said before, I love Max," she raised an arm to Alice's shoulder and stroked the material of her shirt with her thumb, watching her with a gaze that was very much motherly. "I just hope you don't think you didn't have any other options."

Alice quirked somewhat of a half-smile. "Don't worry," she said delicately. "I didn't hesitate."

"Then the fact remains," her aunt pulled back, that proud look etching into the laugh lines of her smile once more. "I'm still so very proud of you."

A warmth settled in the pit of Alice's stomach at her aunt's praise and her smile widened before relaxing into a daze. "She was a good mother."

"Hmm?" Aunt Liza hummed, though Alice had a feeling she knew exactly who she was talking about.

"Anne was a good mom," she nodded to herself. "For how young she was, she was an amazing mother. Max is probably the most well-behaved kid I've ever met. He never cried as a baby, he was always so happy..." she trailed off. "And the way he looked at her, it was like she hung the moon and the stars."

"Well," Aunt Liza gave a watery smile. "She was his mother."

Alice nodded to herself, biting back the tears before they swelled up in her eyes. She sniffed, tossing her head back and squinting at the studio lights above that threatened to render her sightless. Thinking about Anne always cast a heavy lump in her throat she couldn't shake for hours. It was best for her to just not think about her at all, but in doing so she was afraid she was somehow dishonoring her memory. Like maybe if she stopped thinking about her long enough, her spirt would just disappear – be forgotten.

"I don't think you quite realize the way he looks at _you_ ," her aunt countered knowingly, coming to lean against the island beside her. "He's always looked you with such a twinkle in his eye, like you're a fairy tale come to life. He looks at you and he's not afraid because you make everything alright. Even before his mother passed," Aunt Liza stroked the girl's hair. "He looked at you just like that. And that's never changed."

A traitorous tear rolled down Alice's cheek and she quickly wiped it away, sniffing again.

"He knows his mother's gone, but he also knows he's always had two."

Alice coughed as the pounding of footsteps clobbered down the hallway and she heard Max's yelp of delight. She quickly wiped her eyes with shaky hands and pushed herself away from the island, plastering on a quick smile to hide the turbulent emotion threatening to break the surface.

Max flew into the room, stomping as he did so with Pippa hot on his heels, tickling at his sides as he tried to get away.

"Aunt Liza!" he gasped, arms outstretched as he rammed into her legs. The aunt in question smiled brightly at the boy and picked him up, settling him on her hip as she smacked a wet kiss on his cheek and he shrieked again with indignation.

Pippa looked disheartened that Max was no longer subjected to her mercy. Alice smirked and threw an arm around the eleven-year-old's shoulders, nudging her with her hip.

"You ready for a sleep over, Pip?" Alice grinned mischievously and the lanky girl returned the grin with equal mischief.

"Oh, you know it, Chaplin."

* * *

 **Hi! New ROTG reader and writer here. This was one of those ideas that just kind of sprung to life out of nowhere after watching the movie. I'm a newbie when it comes to this kind of fanfiction so I don't really know what to expect. My biggest concern is portraying the canon characters as well as I can without making them OOC. I don't like switching between points of view often, so rarely will you see Jack's perspective unless it's absolutely necessary. But seeing as how it's the first chapter, I figured it'd be a good idea to have the best of both worlds starting off.**

 **I'm really hoping this story will blossom into this masterpiece I imagine it to be inside my head. I have a lot of plans I'm excited about and a few choices to make on which direction the story will go. I accept and welcome criticism, that's how I improve as a writer! I don't have a beta, so if you guys catch any grammatical errors my eyes may have missed after staring at the chapter for hours at a time, I do sincerely apologize for that but it's bound to happen. Still, don't hesitate to point them out to me so I can correct them.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

* * *

"I have never seen more snow anywhere in all my life," Alice stated, holding back the dining room curtain as she gazed flabbergasted out the window. White flurries blew in the soft wind, shimmering off the reflection of the moon as they cascaded downward and coated the growing layer of snow on the ground below.

"Did it not snow in Ohio?" Uncle Kevin asked humorously as he set the table.

Alice pulled away, letting the drapes fall back into place as she shook her head. "It did but never this much in November. Even when we went to Athens for Thanksgiving two years ago it wasn't this bad. Someone here must have seriously pissed off Mother Nature."

Alice helped her aunt carry the dishes to the table and Pippa threw her arms in the air. "It's Jack Frost!" she announced. "He controls the snow and blizzards and cold!" she took her seat at the table, claiming a spot between Alice and her mother. Max scowled at the fact that he wasn't going to be near Pippa or Aunt Liza as he plopped heatedly in the other open chair next to Alice. Uncle Kevin took mock offense to his rage and Max giggled at his teasing, though quickly stopped himself and crossed his arms indignantly.

"He gives us snow days so we can play and have snowball fights and sled races," Pippa continued, humming cheerfully to herself and reaching across Alice's empty seat to poke Max when he wasn't looking. She snickered to herself every time he whipped his head around, tiny eyebrows furrowed.

"Well maybe he should ease off a bit," Alice said, sitting a glass of juice in front of Max and taking her seat at the table. "Some of us have cars to drive and new driveways to shovel tomorrow. It's going to suck."

Pippa tapped a finger to her chin. "I never thought of that," she said. "I can tell him to be careful tomorrow so you won't have to worry about it!" she broadcasted proudly.

Alice grinned over at her as her aunt and uncle took their respective seats. "That'd be _much_ appreciated, Pip. And while you're at it, maybe just ask him to clear the driveway for me too so the movers don't throw a fit."

After dinner, Alice attempted to help clear the table and clean the dishes, only to be smacked and shooed away by her crazy aunt. She politely shoved her up the stairs and told her to put something comfortable on and relax because she was a guest and "guests don't have chores."

Pippa huffed at that as she was asked to rinse hers and Max's plates off in the sink.

Alice handed Max his pajamas and he dressed himself as she went to wash her face. She carried their bags into the guest room and got the bed ready, knowing any minute now Max was going to be about ready to crash. Uncle Kevin announced downstairs that they were making hot chocolate and Alice knew that would be the kiss of death for the seven-year-old.

The two made their way downstairs and Max followed his nose into the kitchen where the mugs were being prepared with giant marshmallows. Alice watched Pippa sneak a few marshmallows behind her mother's back, stuffing them into her cheeks and looking like a chipmunk. Alice sniggered and the girl glared over at her, pointing at Aunt Liza's back before making a slicing motion against her neck. Alice raised her hands in surrender, letting her know she wouldn't tattle.

Pippa snuck her a marshmallow as a truce and Alice was pretty sure she gave Max one, too.

Everyone collected their mug of hot coco and Pippa demanded that she see Alice and Max in the living room, pronto. Her words exactly.

Aunt Liza patted them on their heads as she passed by and ambled down the hall into the office she shared with her husband.

"Gather 'round," Pippa hissed, tugging them in front of the fireplace that had just recently been lit. She adjusted her white beanie and took a bite out of her warm, gooey marshmallow that had started to melt in her cup.

"What are we doing?" Max whispered, eyes wide and glimmering with flames reflecting in the irises. The three of them sat cross-legged in a circle, relishing in the warmth of the fire and the taste of the sweet liquid in their mugs.

"It's story time," Pippa declared, whisper-shouting. The blaze of the fire danced across her skin and she hunkered down as if what she was about to share was top secret. "You guys haven't been here in a while and a _lot_ has gone down since last summer."

"What happened?" Alice asked, feigning shock. She loved how when it came to Pippa, story time was always reversed. Instead of listening to the stories, she always told them.

" _Jack Frost_ happened. He's here, in Burgess. First showed up a couple months ago," Pippa paused dramatically and took a sip of her hot chocolate, staining her upper lip in brown liquid and clumps of marshmallow.

She proceeded to tell them the tale involving Jack Frost, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and the Boogeyman. The first five took up an alliance against the Boogeyman, who was attempting to absorb the fear of all children to feed his power through nightmares. Jack Frost, however, didn't have any believers so he was defenseless towards saving the children. But he proved to be a useful weapon against the Nightmare King. The other four, The Guardians, told him he was chosen to be a Guardian like them, but his lack of believers proved to be a tricky obstacle to overcome and kept him from becoming the Guardian he aspired to be.

Max was enthralled, hugging his knees to his chest and Pippa gestured wildly and painted a mental picture for them as she explained the scenes in detail. Alice couldn't hold back the curiosity on her face and listened with fervor, impressed with the girl's vivid imagination. Alice was a mediocre storyteller at best in comparison to the eleven-year-old.

"But then Jamie believed in him! He believed in all of them because of Jack! He was Jack's first believer, and together they rallied up an army of kids – _US_ ," she pointed to herself proudly. "To band together and defeat Pitch and his fearlings once and for all! We believed in the Boogeyman, but we weren't afraid of him, which was his ultimate weakness! He ended up fearing _us_ instead and his nightmares turned _against_ him!"

Max gasped, mouth open wide at the turn of events. "His own creations fed on their master's fear and he was destroyed once and for all!" She made a fist and thrust it in the air. "The children believed in the Guardians once again and all their powers were restored."

"Wow," the boy whispered. Pippa puffed out her chest in pride. "So the Boogeyman is gone? For real?"

"Yep," Pippa nodded, wiping her nails on her shirt. "We took care of him alright. He won't be bothering us any time soon."

Alice nodded. "Good riddance," she declared. "How dare he use his power for evil?"

"It was Sandy's powers he messed with," Pippa declared with distaste, slamming her fist into the carpet. "He turned his golden dream sand into black nightmare sand. That's how he was able to kill Sandy!" she wailed.

"He was corrupted by the evil of his own magic," Alice said, feeling angry for reasons beyond her. It was fantasy and yet she found herself annoyingly involved in the characters. "What a _low_ blow."

"Right?" Pippa snarled, looking about ready to hit something. She balled her hands into fists. "If Pitch ever came back around again, I'd show him who's boss," she punched the air a few times and Alice laughed, making sure Max didn't accidentally get hit.

"Whoa, whoa, easy tiger," she chuckled. "Lower the guns. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of those. Pitch doesn't want to know what kind of enemy he's made in you."

"In _all_ of us," Pippa correct, heated. "He even broke Jack's staff! He tried taking away all his powers! _Nobody_ messes with Jack Frost."

"I bet Jack kicked Pitch's butt two ways from Tuesday," Alice smirked and Pippa nodded.

"Oh he did," she said seriously. "If you don't want to be on the receiving end of my punches, you _really_ don't want to be on the receiving end of Jack's."

Alice nodded approvingly. "Sounds like my kind of hero."

Pippa's eyes positively lit up. "Just _wait_ until I tell him you said that!"

Alice laughed as she nuzzled Max's neck with her fingers, watching as his eyelids began to surrender against their own weight. "Why would he want to hear that?" she asked.

"Because you're a _grown up_ ," Pippa said with a tone of finality, as if that was the only explanation she needed. Alice smiled a little to herself before noticing that Max was succumbing to the Sandman's dream world as they spoke.

"Well, looks like this guy's ready to hit the hay," she stood and carefully scooped the boy up in her arms, reeling for a moment at the weight. He was getting so big.

Pippa took their mugs into the kitchen and bid them good night. After speaking with her aunt and uncle, Alice carefully carried the sleeping boy up the stairs and into the guestroom, tucking him in under the warm blankets and grinning at the fact that he was out cold. She kissed his forehead, refraining from waking him up so he could brush his teeth. It was one night and he had a long day.

She climbed into the bed beside him and turned out the light, his soft snores echoing like sweet music in the dark room as Alice curled herself around him and cuddled him into her chest. He was so far into his sleep that he probably wouldn't relish in the fact that he was sleeping in the same bed as her for the first time in months until morning.

It was an early start the next morning. Max wasn't as hyper this time around, dragging himself like a snail because he didn't want to leave. Alice was rushing to get ready because she slept later than she expected, though it was still only half past seven. The moving truck said it would arrive at nine and she still had to shovel the driveway. Unless she buffed up like the Hulk between now and then, there was no way she was getting it done in time.

Since it was a weekend day, Pippa was still out like a light. Max whined about not being able to say goodbye to her, but Alice told him she was literally one street away and he could come see her any time he wanted. She didn't want to test the wrath of the eleven-year-old at being woken up earlier than she needed to be.

As Alice was running out the door, tugging Max along as she went while he was attempting to put his other shoe on and hopping, Aunt Liza tossed a shovel into her free hand and she threw a quick, "Thanks!" over her shoulder before speeding out the front door. It was already eight.

Good thing was their new house was only a three minute drive and the roads were icy so she didn't feel obligated to drive particularly fast. She grew up in the northeast and still hadn't mastered driving in the winter.

As she was pulling up, Alice told Max to run on inside and she'd turn the heater on for him before she got to work. Max protested, saying he wanted to play in the snow. She put the car in park and grabbed the shovel from the backseat before climbing out, Max quickly following in her wake.

"You don't have any mittens," she told him. "Nice try but you're going inside where it's warm."

She clambered up the snow-covered pathway to the porch, being careful to keep her balance, and began digging in her coat pockets to find her house keys.

"Um," she heard Max call from somewhere behind her. "You might wanna look at this."

She huffed, checking her jean pockets next. "Max, I really don't have time—" she'd turned to grab his arm, only to stop suddenly in her tracks.

How she'd walked right by it and not noticed, she would never know. But there, right in front of her pasty-white garage door, was the driveway. Usually that's where driveways were, but that's not what caused her mouth to drop open in shock. She could actually _see_ the driveway, completely cleared of snow.

Her mouth opened and closed, babbling incoherent nonsense to herself. There was a pile of snow across the yard, looking to have been blown precariously out of the way. Looking down, she realized she was standing on a similar pile. It was as if someone had taken a gigantic leaf blower and blew the snow out of the way.

"I don't understand," she finally regained motor function in her brain and spoke clear English. Had one of the neighbors done that for her? Being neighborly and all? Unlikely story, as she hadn't even met her neighbors yet and doubted they saw her and Max yesterday afternoon the whole twenty minutes they'd been at the house.

"Pippa must have told Jack Frost, just like she said she would!" Max exclaimed, jumping onto the cold concrete and stomping around on the driveway.

"Right," she glanced about the area, noticing cars buried up to their tire rims in snow, piles of white fluff coating their hoods and windshields. It must have snowed long into the night, and she realized just how odd her empty driveway looked in comparison to the mounds of thick ice that surrounded it.

Her mind couldn't come up with a logical explanation. It's not like a tornado dropped by and sucked all the snow up in front of her house before disappearing into the clouds again. She didn't understand the weather. Or the weather in Burgess, rather. It's like it had a mind of its own.

She watched Max as he kicked at the snow piles, humming the tune to Frosty the Snowman beneath his breath.

" _It was Jack Frost!"_ Max had said.

 _While you're at it, maybe just ask him to clear the driveway for me too…_

Alice shook her head, quickly snapping out of her reverie and commanding Max inside before his fingers froze. He skipped merrily past her, mumbling something about Jack Frost to himself. She slowly followed him, eyebrows furrowed. "Huh," she grunted. Weird.

It took a few hours for the moving truck to be emptied. Two men arrived with it and were quick to unload the heavy items. She offered her assistance and carried in boxes, her top priority being the fragile-labeled ones that she didn't trust them with.

By eleven o'clock she tipped the movers well and they were on their way. She never realized just how many things she had until there were boxes piled shoulder high in every room.

To clear her head for a few minutes, she and Max drove into town to find something to eat. It was a nice, peaceful twenty minutes of eating inside a dainty little café that had no other customers.

Upon returning, she first searched for Max's good mittens and knitted hat and allowed him to play outside by the window where she could see him. Then she began peeling all the plastic off the furniture and rearranged the coffee and end tables. She spent most of her time trying to mount the television on the wall, getting angry every now and then and googling how to do it since the instruction manual was long gone.

From time to time she'd glance out the window and see Max laughing wildly, throwing snow and rolling down a hill he must have contorted in the fluff.

After about two hours, Alice opened the front door and called Max in for a break. He bounded in without complaint, cheeks and nose flushed red from the chilly air but a big smile was plastered on his face.

"What's gotten you so smiley?" she grinned, ruffling his hair after he took his hat off. He swatted her hand away easily.

"I was talking to Jack," he told her, sitting down on a stool at the island she'd just unwrapped.

"Jack?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"Jack Frost," he said, the 'duh' behind his words not losing its implications on her as if she should've already known that. She mouthed an 'oh' and cranked up the heat a little more for his benefit before digging into her kitchen boxes. "He says you're welcome, by the way," he added off-handedly. When she gave him a confused look he elaborated, "About the driveway. He said Pippa was shouting his name out her window for ten minutes last night and he was supposed to be creating a blizzard in Chicago."

Alice didn't really have a response for that. Kids were elaborate with their imaginations, she'd give them that. "Well, tell him I said thank you," she finally managed at last before putting dishes and glasses away in the cabinets.

"He's _so_ cool," Max gushed, unable to hold back as he rambled. "I told him what Pippa said last night about the Guardians and Pitch and he asked if I wanted to be part of their gang of believers to defeat all the bad things and I said yes because why wouldn't I it's _Jack Frost_ and he told me I was going to have so much fun and that I didn't have to worry about being stuck inside this boring house with you and—"

"Wait what?" Alice had only been partially listening up until that last part. "He said _what?_ "

"He said you were boring," Max stated casually, as if they were discussing the weather or yesterday's baseball game.

"I thought you said he said the _house_ was boring," she squinted at him.

"Oh, well he did," Max nodded innocently. "But he also said you were boring, too."

Alice couldn't believe she had just been insulted by a figment of a child's imagination. She _really_ couldn't believe she was actually taking the insult to heart. "Why am I boring?" she demanded. "He doesn't know me. Who does he think he is?"

"Because you're an _adult_ ," he rolled his eyes. "Besides, Jack's the _Guardian_ of Fun. He's a pro at not being boring."

"I've only been an adult for one year," she snipped, bristling and feeling flustered. "I'm still a teenager," she pointed to herself. "I know how to have fun."

" _Whatever you say_ ," Max sang, playing with the strings on his jacket's hood.

Alice huffed, tossing bowls unceremoniously into the cupboard as she mumbled about winter spirits and _boring_ and if it'd been better if they'd moved to Hawaii instead where it didn't snow.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I'm actually surprised I got reviews so soon, it sincerely means a lot.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

* * *

"Look at you, handsome man," Alice brushed her hand through the soft, short blonde hair.

Max was sitting on one of the stools near their island with a towel wrapped around his neck. Aunt Liza was perched behind him, evening out the base of his hairline before smiling triumphantly and stepping back to admire her work. Alice held up a mirror to gauge the boy's reaction and Max tried to not grin like he was the man of the house and failed.

"Girls are going to be chasing you down tomorrow," Alice waggled her eyebrows and Max made a face. It was a cross between disgust and a hint of curiosity as he pondered the possibility. Alice laughed.

"Go jump in the shower to get all the itchy hairs off," Aunt Liza said, patting his back and urging him off the stool. He carefully handed the towel to her. "When you get out, I'll style it for you. See how well that charm works," she winked and Max grunted before making his way into the bathroom.

Alice chuckled a little and shook her head, thanking her aunt for doing such a good job. It's a wonder the woman never went to beauty school. She was just naturally good at cutting hair. She was the go-to person in their family for free haircuts. It'd gotten to the point with Pippa where she was the only one who knew how to cut her hair properly. Last time the eleven-year-old went to a barber, she nearly ended up with a mullet. Alice had to hold back her laughter during that particular Thanksgiving, not wanting to offend the then nine-year-old but unable to stop the sniggers that erupted in her throat.

Pippa nearly had steam coming out her ears, face hot and red as a tomato. Alice couldn't remember a time the girl wasn't sitting with her arms crossed, glaring at the world with her white beanie pulled down to her ears. That's how the infamous beanie came to be, and she had the habit of wearing it nearly every day since.

As it was early Sunday afternoon, the majority of the boxes in the house still needed to be unpacked. Aunt Liza volunteered to help and Alice was grateful for it. She couldn't wait until the house actually felt like home. The walls were cold and bare and unwelcoming, and she was still in that stage where the place repelled her, a voice whispering in the back of her head that it wasn't hers. Not yet, anyway. But it would be.

She was determined to make a home for her and Max. They'd never had any opportunities to before then.

Thinking back on the past year, Alice could only see blurred images that whizzed by too fast for her mind to catch any real detail. It was one of those things she tried logging away in the back of her mind because it gave her a headache otherwise. Maybe one day she'd dig them back out and spend a couple hours really nitpicking at them like she knew she'd eventually have to, just for her peace of mind. And perhaps some reassurance that she had, indeed, done the right thing.

Her and Aunt Liza occupied their time well, unloading books and movies and placing them in the empty shelves near the television. Alice found some nails and a hammer tucked away in one of her tool boxes (Uncle Kevin's idea of a great birthday gift) and she took the time to hang some of her pictures. Most were just paintings she'd bought at yard sales back when she was in high school, going through that phase of garage-sailing in hopes that she might find some hidden treasure or artifact that was worth thousands of dollars that might put her through college.

Max returned about twenty minutes later, refreshed and smelling of soap. Aunt Liza commanded him back onto the stool and she went about her business of gelling his hair while Alice hanged some decorative mirrors in the hallway. Alice peeked around the corner about a minute into it and asked cheekily if Uncle Kevin knew she was using his hair products. Aunt Liza simply held a finger up to her lips.

"My masterpiece is complete," the older woman announced a few minutes later. Alice ambled into the room with a nail between her teeth. She took it out and smirked at the boy who suddenly appeared embarrassed to be under such scrutiny.

Alice glanced at her aunt. "I bet five dollars he'll have a girlfriend by tomorrow afternoon."

"Ten dollars says he'll have one before lunch."

"You're on."

Max squinted at them and hopped out of his seat, aggravated and red-cheeked. "That is not going to happen," he stated, as if the concept was beneath him. He did take a few seconds to admire himself in the handheld mirror though and Alice snickered.

She continued on with her decorating of the hallway as Aunt Liza cleaned up her beauty station. Only two minutes of silence had passed before Max declared that he was bored, loudly enough to where he was sure Alice could hear him. She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

There was a faint echo of Aunt Liza's voice carrying down the hall from the kitchen, saying that Pippa was down at the park playing with some friends and that Max was welcome to join her. Once he got permission from Alice – it stilled her sometimes when he came to her first before doing something and made her heart sore with something akin to giddiness – he grabbed his coat and mittens and threw on his shoes before he was out the door.

It was apparently engraved into every child's brain where the local park was so he didn't need directions.

The redhead and her aunt continued unpacking and decorating the house for the better part of the late morning and early afternoon, making small talk every once in a while when their paths would cross. Alice knew it was futile to attempt to have everything done so soon. It was part of the reason why she didn't start work until the following week (praise all those paid vacation days she never used back in Ohio), but part of her still wished she could have the house ready to go by nightfall. Again, if she were the Incredible Hulk or maybe The Flash, it would be. Curse her humanity.

It was nearing the late afternoon when Aunt Liza bid her adieu for the day. They'd made steady progress and it was starting to look more like a home rather than a half empty house. Alice thanked her for all her help and decided to give herself a break and make some sandwiches. She'd gone to the store earlier that morning so at least their fridge and pantry weren't completely empty.

Once finished, she wrapped them in plastic and tossed them in a bag with some juice boxes before throwing on a warm coat and heading out the door.

She made her way down to the park. It was closer to her aunt's house than hers, but hardly far at all. She could hear the shrieks and laughter of the kids playing from her front yard.

Gazing idly about, she walked. As expected, it didn't take long for her to come across a clearing diagonal from one of the neighborhood streets. It was a community park, large and open with historical relics and benches for resting and sight-seeing. There was a half built snowman and a few large piles of snow scattered about the area, as if the kids had lost interest halfway through their constructs and moved on to something else.

Most of them were taking turns on a sled, and it glided along a decent-sized course she assumed had been created from the sled's wear on the snow. Max was playing with a small group and she quickly recognized Pippa amongst them. Clearly all of the children were older than Max and generally taller, but that didn't seem to be an issue.

She smiled slightly, stopping to watch as they chased each other around, throwing snow at one another and yelling as they went. Part of her really missed being a kid. Everything was always so easy – never a care in the world. She never saw how the vast world loomed over her, was never intimidated by the larger things that surrounded her. It was a shame that adults weren't so fortunate; weren't so lighthearted and naïve, unafraid of the big bad world that was just waiting for the opportune moment to swallow them whole.

Alice was about to sigh and maybe feel a little sorry for herself until something cold smacked her in the head. There was a comical _splat_ as she gasped, feeling the wetness settling into her hair and for a second she froze, too shocked to do or say anything.

The moment passed, however, and she shook her hair out, watching the clumps of snow fall to the ground and shivering before glancing up. There was a large, leafless tree resting precariously a few feet away, wayward branches sticking outward in all directions and coated with a fine layer of white fluff. None of the branches were overhead and she furrowed her eyebrows, baffled as to how any of it managed to fall on _her_ head when she heard laughter.

She turned accusingly, her face feeling hot. Max and Pippa, she noticed, were laughing harder than any of the other kids, though all of them seemed to find it absolutely _hilarious_. She scowled, wondering if any of them had anything to do with this.

She held up the bag in her hands, having forgotten why she was even there for a split second. "Brought you lunch," she told Max and his eyes lit up, turning back to the group to whisper something before bounding his way over to Alice with a wicked glint in his eyes.

He glanced at something above her and she immediately followed his stare, ready to bark at whoever threw the offending snow at her, though was disheartened when she was met with nothing but blue skies and the tips of the snow-covered branches.

Alice made her way to the nearest bench, and behind her she could've sworn she heard Max utter, " _Good one, Jack_ ," as he followed her.

'Good one, Jack,' she mouthed scathingly in her own silent mockery.

They sat quietly on the bench as they munched on their sandwiches. Max seemed keen on paying more attention to his imaginary friend than her, sneaking mischievous glances just above Alice's head and every now and then snickering quietly to himself. She clenched her jaw, feeling oddly annoyed.

"What's so funny?" she finally asked, trying to appear airy and nonchalant.

Something about this must've set him off because Max giggled again, ducking his head into his lap as he peeled at the crust on the remnants of his sandwich. Alice felt a cold, tingling sensation near her right ear and she shrugged the feeling off as if it were a physical being, too distracted to be bothered by it. In the back of her mind, she recognized that the feeling went away.

"It's just Jack," Max chuckled softly to himself.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she refrained from gritting her teeth. "What's Jack doing?"

It was beyond her at this point that she shouldn't have had any real reason to care.

Max quirked his lips. "Just making funny faces at you," he told her, eyes glistening with mirth. "He's right behind you."

As a reflex, Alice turned. Unsurprisingly, she saw nothing. She huffed inwardly, wondering why she'd gotten herself so illogically worked up.

Shaking her head, Alice took a sip from her juice box. "You should tell Jack it's not polite to make funny faces at people," she reprimanded him, trying to hide a smile. "If he keeps doing that, maybe his face will get stuck that way."

Max furrowed his eyebrows, fingers stalling their assault on his sandwich. Alice raised an eyebrow in return, finishing her own sandwich and brushing the crumbs off her pants before doing the same to her hands. "He said his face can't get stuck in a bad way, he's too good-looking."

Alice guffawed, taken aback, not expecting a response like that. "Where are you coming up with this stuff?" she laughed, wadding up the plastic and dumping it in the bag by her feet. She took the remains of his demolished sandwich and threw them in the bag as well, knowing he'd never finish it.

"He said your big glasses make you look nerdy."

"Tell him it's not polite to tease people, either."

"He said he wasn't teasing."

"Tell him I said he has a big head," Alice countered childishly, stretching her legs out in front of her and squinting up at the sun. Too bad the sun wasn't doing its job. She was only beginning to feel colder and colder. A sudden gust of wind whipping at her face startled her and an involuntary shiver raced down her spine.

"He said his head is average sized, he's trying to show you. He said if you saw him you'd know that," Max paused, seemingly enjoying being the go-between. "He also said to not be a hypocrite and to take your own advice."

Alice abruptly stood, unable to shake the cold and feeling uneasy with the sudden drop in temperature. "Okay Max, that's enough. I think it's time to head home, it's getting chilly out."

Which didn't make sense because the sun hadn't even begun to set yet, but she didn't have the brain capacity to question it. Frankly, she was tired and ready for a hot bath.

Max jumped up from his seat as well, that adorable frown marring his expression again. "That's just because Jack is standing so close to you."

"Jack needs to learn personal space, then. Come on, say goodbye to your friends," she wrapped her arms around herself in a fruitless attempt to stay warm.

Max whined but didn't argue and jogged over to the group, exchanging his goodbyes. Alice exhaled slowly, watching with mild interest as her breath fogged up in front of her. It stilled before something disturbed it and it wavered briefly before evaporating completely.

The blonde-haired boy traipsed back over to where Alice was patiently waiting and with a smile, she led them out of the park and onto the sidewalk. Alice hummed to herself for a few seconds, unwrapping her arms from around herself to cross them against her chest instead.

"Jack said you smell like candy canes," Max said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"He told you to say that?" Alice asked.

"No, he just said that you did."

Alice raised her eyebrows, unsure of how to respond, and chose to say nothing at all.

"Do I _have_ to go to school?" Max whined the following morning as Alice handed him his knitted hat. She was threatening to fall back asleep, hair falling slightly in her face and out of the messy bun she'd thrown it up in the night before. Why did school have to start so early? It wasn't uncommon for her to get up at the crack of dawn lately, but after spending half the day on a ladder trying to hang various items, her back was sore and all she wanted was to lie down.

"You could homeschool me," Max continued, smiling widely. "You could help me with all my work and we could spend all day together and eat junk food! Yeah!" he fist pumped the air.

Alice snorted. "You're dreaming, squirt," she didn't mention how awful the idea sounded of trying to teach him math or science or some other horrible subject. She just graduated high school not two years ago. She would have to be dragged kicking and screaming back to elementary school, even for Max's sake.

Max deflated slightly as she handed him some lunch money. She kept a jar handy of ones and fives and change for the occasion and had been using it for the past seven months Max had been back in school. Every now and then she'd pack him a lunch, but it was apparently universal that all kids wanted to eat the school's lunch even though more often than not it was terrible and hardly classified as a three course meal.

"The bus is going to be here soon, come on buddy," she nudged him towards the door, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as he opened it and in surged a breeze of ice that almost made Alice want to scream. "Have a good day, be good, learn something," she said, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. He looked reluctant to leave, but smiled nonetheless and adjusted his backpack before walking down the pathway leading to the bus stop.

She watched until the bus arrived and he climbed inside with a few other children that'd been waiting. She was so thankful she had called the week prior to enroll him in Burgess Elementary. The elementary school he'd been previously enrolled at faxed them his transcripts, health information for the nurse, and other miscellaneous paperwork. The school emailed her a few forms she had to sign and she emailed PDFs back donned with her signature.

She loved how technologically advanced the 21st Century was. It meant she didn't have to sit a single foot inside a school ever again. Maybe parent-teacher conferences were now done via webcam.

After the bus disappeared down the street, she inched her way back into her bedroom for another two hours of sleep. As much as she wanted to sleep the entire day away, a technician was coming to install her cable box and router later that morning and unfortunately she needed to be awake for that.

The day passed uneventfully. After the cable and internet were installed, she spent a good hour or two watching reruns of Friends even though she had the full series collection on DVD. She sat slumped low on the couch, snacking on a bag of chips and being generally lazy until she finally decided to do something productive and continued unboxing.

It hadn't felt like eight hours had gone by, but before she knew it a flash of yellow dashed past her front window and she pulled herself away from spraying the sliding glass doors that led out into the backyard with Windex.

Alice tugged her hoodie down from the coat rack she finally sat near the door and let herself outside to greet Max on his trek up the driveway. "Hey rugrat, how'd it go?"

Max shrugged as he made his way inside. "Same old," he replied, kicking the snow out of his shoes on the mat.

"Were your classmates nice?" she tried.

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p'.

"What about your teachers?"

"Ye _p_."

Now she knew how her parents felt whenever they asked her about her day. Max made for her abandoned bag of chips by the couch and shoved his hand deep inside.

"Pippa and Monty are going to be at the park again, can I go with them?" he asked through a mouthful, hardly legible.

Alice faltered for a second, surprised that he was ready to go out again even though he'd just barely gotten home. It wasn't exactly typical Max behavior.

"I guess that's alright," she looked around unsurely, as if the all answers were written in the walls around her. "Do you have any homework?"

"Not today," Max said. He wiped his hands off on his jeans and she refrained from scolding him on it. "Can I go now?" he asked.

Alice furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't used to Max always wanting to go out and play right after getting home from school. Truthfully, she'd never seen him so excited to spend time with kids he hardly knew. Of course she knew Pippa and Monty as well because wherever Pippa was the boy wasn't very far behind, but other than that, she didn't even know who the other kids were.

She figured they were probably the ones Pippa had talked so animatedly about the other night – who'd supposedly helped conquer the Boogeyman.

Alice reckoned she didn't have a right to judge. It's not like she didn't trust anyone Pippa associated with. If Max was having fun, wasn't that all that mattered? She didn't exactly have much experience with over-protectiveness or commanding every detail of a child's life. She knew she always hated being smothered by her parents. They meant well, but every mother and father crosses a line at least once in their kid's life.

Now was definitely not the time to cross that line. She would save that for later on down the road when he was sixteen or something and came home with a girl's perfume on his collar.

She quickly shook the thought from her brain, finding the notion of Max actually growing up and becoming a teenager foreign and weird. Maybe because she was still just a teenager herself and shouldn't her parents still be the ones asking where _she_ was after 10PM and demanding if any boys were involved?

"Sure, go ahead. Don't stay out too late," she told him, unable to fathom up a reason as to why he shouldn't be allowed to go. Max lit up like a Christmas tree and thanked her profusely before making a mad dash out the door, as if he couldn't get to the park soon enough.

It was just peculiar. He'd _never_ been so excited to go out and play before. At least not recently.

 _Maybe I'm overreacting,_ she mused.

Like she'd said before, if he was happy and having fun, who was she to question it? If _Jack Frost_ – _relatively speaking_ – was the one making Max smile and laugh and somewhat an image of his former self, then she wasn't going to complain.

Hell, she probably even owed the spirit of winter a thank you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

* * *

"Home-cooked food _yes_ ," Alice moaned gratefully, propping herself up with her hands cupped below her chin as she watched Aunt Liza dice tomatoes across the island for her spaghetti sauce.

It was halfway through the week and Alice was bored out of her mind. Aside from _still_ unpacking boxes and going back and forth between the house and the park with Max, she had nothing else to do. She still didn't start work until the following Monday and the monotony was wearing her sanity thin. She spent a good portion of that morning kicking empty cardboard boxes around in rage. It was a momentary loss of control she was glad no one had been around to see. But _honestly,_ _how many boxes did she have?_

She was never moving again. _So help me God, Max and I are going to live in Burgess for the rest of our lives,_ she'd thought fiercely, glaring at the remaining unopened boxes. To hell with moving. They had everything they needed right there. _Clearly_. It felt like she was unpacking a damn Walmart Supercenter.

Back in the present, Aunt Liza smirked knowingly at the redhead. "When's the last time you cooked a meal? Two weeks? A month?"

Alice whined. "It's been so _hectic_. With buying the house and dealing with the realtors and then actually _moving_ here," she threw herself onto the counter, sighing at the coolness of the surface.

"Poor Max," Aunt Liza droned, stirring the sauce. "He's succumbed to fast food every night. He probably doesn't remember what it tastes like to have a meal made with _love_."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Oh please, it hasn't been _fast food_ …" she paused. "Not _every_ night."

Her aunt laughed and Alice's shoulders slumped, her stomach gurgling impatiently at the scent of basil and cooking tomatoes. She couldn't wait to eat something she didn't have to pay for.

"I hope you don't mind that we're having people over," her aunt continued over the steam of the boiling water at the stove. She began breaking uncooked spaghetti noodles.

Apparently they'd invited another family over for dinner. The Bennetts, if she remembered correctly. They had a young daughter who liked getting snippy with scissors and giving herself pretty haircuts. The term 'pretty' being used loosely by her aunt, who claimed it was always a nightmare trying to fix the poor little girl's hair. Her parents tried hiding every pair of scissors they owned, yet she always managed to find them.

Supposedly they were bribing her aunt with sweets to fix her latest rebellious hairstyle tonight.

Pippa was good friends with their son, Jamie. The name rang a bell – he was mentioned a few times in her story. Alice couldn't remember ever personally meeting him. The only friend of Pippa's she'd ever run into was Monty. She had a soft spot for him because he was a fellow four-eyes like her, sporting half-moon red-rimmed glasses nearly too big for his face.

"Not at all," Alice waved the woman off. "I'm sure Max will eat all the attention up."

The doorbell rang. Speak of the devil.

Max and Pippa fought over who was going to answer it, racing down the hall and skidding into walls, sounding like a herd of elephants and probably waking China.

"I got it!"

"No, _I_ got it!"

"Hey, it's my house!"

"Fine, we'll open it together."

"You're standing in front of me, they'll see you first!"

"Probably for the best."

Alice shook her head, trying to hold back a laugh. They acted like they were related. She knew she picked the right family to live nearby.

A low chatter echoed in through the kitchen followed by multiple footsteps. Max and Pippa were shouting their greetings and two loud voices joined them, followed by a much calmer one. Aunt Liza quickly wiped her hands on the nearest dish towel before marching out of the room to welcome her guests. Alice snuck a quick bite of the pasta sauce with the first clean spoon she could find and swooned a little at the taste before trailing swiftly in her aunt's wake.

She found a brunette woman sharing a hug with Aunt Liza. Her aunt was quick to introduce the two of them after exchanging pleasantries with the woman.

The woman held out her hand kindly to Alice. "Caroline Bennett, I don't think we've met," she said. Alice graciously returned the handshake, finding the look in the woman's eyes warm and comforting. She had come on her own with her two children and Alice was able to draw her own conclusion that she didn't have a husband.

As expected, the little girl Sophie's hair looked like a train wreck. Completely uneven, some spots cut so short that there was no way they could be covered up. Alice tried biting back a smile, not wanting to offend her mother. Though Caroline Bennett seemed to find quite a bit of humor in her daughter's misshapen haircut.

Jamie Bennett, little Sophie's older brother, was sporting a unique looking sled and waving it around as Pippa and Max stared wide-eyed as if it were the greatest thing they'd ever seen. Alice could've sworn she heard the boy say he made it himself and if that were the case, she could understand their awe. The kid built a _sled_ and she could hardly close a re-sealable bag.

"Jamie, I thought I told you to leave that thing at home," Caroline scolded, depositing her pea coat on the rack Aunt Liza offered to her.

"Sorry mom," Jamie apologized, though he didn't sound very sorry at all.

"It's so cool!" Max exclaimed. "Can we ride it after dinner?"

Pippa gasped. "Yeah mom, can we?"

Aunt Liza and Caroline were hit with three pairs of puppy eyes.

"Maybe about an hour or so after dinner if it's not too late," Aunt Liza answered and received a chorus of pouts. "No playing right after you eat. You need to wait a bit."

"But that's for _swimming_ ," Pippa stressed as if she didn't know anything.

"Okay fine, then rough house and get motion sickness and throw up your dinner if you want. I won't tell you no."

Pippa grimaced and exchanged wary glances with Jamie and Max. Alice laughed.

Alice was then introduced to Jamie, who she could have sworn muttered about 'nerdy glasses' to Max who nodded enthusiastically.

She scowled.

It was later the following day when things started getting interesting. Though, the turn of events probably didn't exactly come out in Alice's favor.

Alice was on her way home from a flea market downtown. She thought absently that it'd been weird to have one going while it was so cold outside, but Burgess didn't play by the rules.

She was carrying two brown paper bags filled to the brim with fruits and vegetables, determined to cook her and Max a nice dinner that night and to have some good food in the house they could snack on.

She was donned in a fuzzy hat and cozy winter coat so the chilly air nipping at her cheeks didn't affect her too much. It hadn't been only her idea to take an afternoon stroll – there were plenty of people milling about the area, walking to and from the little corner stores and even some sipping on coffee or hot tea outside the Coffee Bean.

It was a nice day. The sun was shining brightly overhead, not providing much physical heat, but as it cast glowing beams on the snow and lit up the world beneath it, it provided a warming effect. If it had been about an hour later, kids would have been congregating at the park she was just approaching from the far south side.

The roads were a bit icy, as were the sidewalks. She had been mindful of the precarious terrain beneath her feet all morning, sometimes grunting as her feet nearly slipped out from under her without any warning. The main street was oddly crowded with grocery and stock trucks. Most were driving slowly to make up for the lack of traction on the pavement.

Alice checked the time on the clock tower near the courthouse. She needed to hurry home before Max's school bus beat her to it.

Quickly glancing down the road, she began her trek across it. Once she reached the park, she just needed to circle around its perimeter and from there her house was only about five minutes away.

She was so caught up in her impatience to get on the other side of the road (which was ultimately making her go slower because of the slippery ground threatening to take her down) that her mind hadn't registered all the commotion a few paces down the road. There were people shouting off into the distance and the unmistakable squeal of tires roared hauntingly from around the corner.

As fate would have it, the moment she reached the center of the road her house keys fell from her coat pockets. After the familiar _clang_ rang in her ears she closed her eyes, sarcastically thanking whatever God decided today would be a good day to ruin her life. With a huff, she bent down and sat one of her bags on the wet ground to grab the keys with her free hand.

It was then that a peculiar noise reached her ears. It was high-pitched and relentless, curdling like nails on a chalkboard and drawing a wince out of her. She stood upright, momentarily forgetting her bag on the ground and furrowed her eyebrows, turning in the direction from whence it came.

She sincerely wished she hadn't.

It was another delivery truck, some indiscernible brand name plastered on its sides in mockingly bright colors. It was barreling down the road at a speed she didn't think was possible, swaying from left to right, as if it were trying to avoid all lamp posts and electrical lines but at the same time not wanting to stay on the street.

It was coming right for her, and she didn't even have a moment to think about how much that sucked.

There was a pang of fear in her gut and a ringing in her ears. Muffled voices were screaming, panicked. Probably some futile attempt at telling her to get out of the way. They sounded concerned, though not enough so to where they'd risk their own life to try and save hers. Above all that though, she could hear the pounding of her heart echoing in her conscience; could almost feel her brain pulsating with it.

For a split second she saw the driver's face, appearing terrified and lost as they thrashed the wheel from side to side in a desperate attempt to steer it back on course. It should have concerned her that they were so close she could clearly make out the color of their eyes, the shape of their nose, the collar of their shirt. Smoke emitted from somewhere behind the truck and the painful squealing returned, though was quickly swallowed by the white noise flooding in through her ears.

All of this happened in the span of about four seconds.

Her life didn't flash before her eyes. It didn't have time to.

One minute she was rooted to the icy ground, feeling as though she were part of the road, staring death in the face with a shadow bordering her vision. And then the next, she was air bound.

An icy claw tugged at something within her, closing down on her insides and pulling hard. An intangible force plunged her street side, just barely missing the truck as it blasted past a frighteningly close distance away, and suddenly her body slammed into the unforgiving ground, wet and cold.

Her head bounced off the cement with a sickly crack and she saw a flicker of a white figure hooded in blue and flashing eyes to match. It was gone as quickly as it came, like it existed one second and the next it didn't, before her vision surrendered to darkness.

Alice couldn't remember the transport to the hospital. It was hazy and vague, as if she were looking through a sheet of old film. She recalled being jostled back into consciousness at one point and the searing pain that shot across her forehead from one temple to the other. She reeled from it and everything went black again, but she briefly felt movement beneath her body. The lull of the road, the object clasped around her neck threatening to choke her into submission. And then she lost all sensation.

Next thing she was aware of was a white curtain and a bustling of life on the other side of it. She had a massive headache and a spot on her forehead that burned constantly, but she still knew who she was and what had happened before her memory went blank. Flea market, icy roads, truck.

She was resting on a tiny cot inside the emergency room, cloaked by a thin curtain that had been pulled taut. A nurse eventually came to her bedside with Q-tips, some medicine and gauze. She informed Alice that she hadn't sustained any permanent brain damage as she removed the neck brace, just a minor concussion, a bad bump on the head and a busted lip. She said she was lucky.

Alice pursed her lips after hearing this and felt a bruise on her lower lip. She tasted something tangy and metallic on her tongue and realized she'd reopened a cut on the inside of her lip from the movement.

Once the nurse finished cleaning the lump on her forehead – Alice wincing as she did so – she wrapped it carefully with the gauze. After filling out some paperwork, she'd be good to go home but the nurse suggested she have someone pick her up. As if she'd actually consider trying to walk home on her own.

When the nurse excused herself, she sat up and immediately felt faint. She paused until the dizzying feeling subsided and then took her phone from the plastic bag they'd placed near her cot and dialed her aunt's number. Damn, her head really hurt.

The moment her aunt picked up, she said, "Please tell me Max is with you."

Aunt Liza breathed a sigh of relief. "He is. He came by and said he couldn't get into the house. Where are you?"

Alice groaned and raised a hand to her head, careful of the gauze, and squeezed her eyes shut. The pain was threatening to make her nauseous as it shot down her brainstem. "I got into an accident," she finally said, breathing heavily. Before she was able to say any more, her aunt went into panic mode.

"What happened? Are you okay? Where are you? Are you hurt?"

She groaned again and pulled the phone away from her ear, wincing. She was still hypersensitive to everything around her and her aunt's babbling wasn't helping. "I'm fine," she said, masking the pain in her voice. "There was a truck that lost control and I don't know," she paused. "I guess it missed me, but I fell and hit my head."

She had a feeling her poor aunt was about to burst a blood vessel. "Do you have a concussion? Is it anything serious?"

"No," she gritted her teeth. The nurse reappeared with an IV. "Just a minor one and some bruises. No big deal."

"To ease the pain," the nurse whispered and Alice nodded gratefully, uncaring as she wiped the top of her free hand clean before inserting the needle. "Just relax," she instructed calmly, filling the IV with the clear fluid. Alice was tempted to ask her how exactly she was supposed to do that with the crazy woman on the other line crowing in her ear but refrained.

"Thank God for that," Aunt Liza breathed. "I guess you're at the small clinic in town?" Alice made a noise in the back of her throat, unsure if that's actually where she was or not. She was too immersed in the fact that the pain in her head was subsiding already. "Okay, I'm putting my shoes on now. I'll be there in ten minutes."

Heaving a sigh, Alice threw her phone next to her on the bed, earning a knowing smile from the nurse. The woman excused herself again for about a minute before returning with some papers and a clipboard.

"If you could just fill these out for me and sign and date them, you can be on your way. Here," she rolled a wooden tray forward so Alice could rest the papers atop it while she wrote. "You can use this. I'll take the IV out soon, but for now let's leave it in until the medicine's absorbed."

Alice thanked her and she left. She filled out all the necessary information and signed what she needed to, relieved that there was only a dull ache in her forehead now where the gauze was pressing into the wound. She rested her head in her free hand, idly thinking back to the incident. She _had_ been lucky, no doubt about it.

She was right in the truck's path and then suddenly she wasn't. It didn't make sense, not that she really expected it to at this point. All her thoughts were jumbled and hard to decode. It didn't particularly matter to her how she got out of the way, as long as she lived to tell the tale.

The only unsettling feeling the situation left behind was what happened after she hit the ground. What had she seen? Initially, she thought it was a person. Maybe someone quick on their feet that had managed to push her out of the way and save her life. But she couldn't remember being pushed. Weirdly enough, it felt almost like she'd been _blown_ out of the way. She'd felt a strong gust of wind and it knocked her off balance, sent her flying onto the sidewalk. There had been that uncomfortable tugging in the pit of her stomach right before it happened, but she couldn't logically explain the feeling or possibly begin to interpret what it could have meant.

"Guess I was _just_ lucky," she mumbled, though the idea didn't sit well with her. She couldn't shake the feeling that what she saw before blacking out meant something. Maybe a hallucination? She did hit her head after all, and the figure seemingly appeared and disappeared out of thin air. She could only describe it as how a TV flickered in and out when it was losing satellite. Maybe the tests were wrong and she did have brain damage after all.

Alice quickly tossed the notion aside, somehow knowing that wasn't the case.

Weird. Everything was just weird.

As her aunt promised, she was there within ten minutes and escorted her out by wheelchair – mandatory hospital procedure when discharged, apparently.

Max was waiting in the backseat of the car and he threw his arms around her the second she stepped out of her wheelchair, teary-eyed and scared that something bad had happened to her. It jolted the tenderness in her head back to life but she pushed the uncomfortable feeling aside and returned the hug, reassuring him that she was just fine.

Aunt Liza drove the both of them home and helped Alice inside, despite her insistence that she could walk fine on her own. The woman fluttered around her for a while, making sure she was comfortable and okay and not going to pass out or die or something else equally ridiculous.

Truthfully, all Alice wanted was some peace and quiet before her head decided to explode.

When the woman finally left after leaving a gentle kiss on the top of her head and a gentle, if not slightly worried, smile, Alice was able to breathe. She tried putting on a show for Max and acting as though nothing was wrong. She couldn't fix them dinner like she planned (she huffed at the fact that she'd spent thirty dollars on food only to have it wasted and squished under the tires of a delivery truck) but Aunt Liza had thought of everything and left them some extra pasta in the fridge.

On the outside she was smiling and joking with Max as she heated up their dinner, trying to act as she ordinarily did, while on the inside she just didn't feel… _normal_ , for lack of a better word. Her instincts told her that something just wasn't right no matter how much she tried to ignore it. Even as they settled on the couch and put a movie in, she watched without really seeing it.

She could feel the ghostly remains of that icy pull still gripping and pulling at her insides like something had literally reached inside her or somehow passed through her and left its fingerprints behind. It was utterly disconcerting and she didn't know what to make of it.

Maybe it was some sort of post-traumatic stress.

Alice felt as though she were on autopilot the rest of the night, mind far away and disconnected from her body. She tucked Max in and bid him goodnight, flickering his green nightlight to life by the door before closing it to an inch behind her.

She plopped unceremoniously down on her bed, leaning forward to rest her head in her hands. All the thinking was bringing her headache back. The lump on her forehead had been doing surprisingly well and she wondered offhandedly when she should change the bandage as they'd given her some extra gauze on her way out.

Alice didn't know how long she sat there, head bowed, but before long a cramp grew in her neck and she had to lift her head away from her hands. She blinked a few times, recovering from movement before gazing over at the clock. It was just after ten and the day's events were beginning to wear her down.

Deciding now would be a good time for her to try to get some sleep and clear her head, Alice went about her nightly routine of changing into her pajamas and throwing her hair up into a messy bun. She pulled the covers aside on her bed, feeling a near gravitational pull at how warm and inviting it looked.

Wiping a hand down her face, she dragged her feet across her bedroom floor. Reaching for her door she had cracked, she pulled it open. The bathroom had been her destination in mind, but she was stopped quickly in her tracks and the idea flew out the window.

Where she expected to see the blackness of the hallway, she was met with a pair of familiar glittering blue eyes under a head of wild silvery hair, attached to a snow-white body and a blue crystalized hoodie. Her eyes widened comically and the eyes before her mirrored her expression of shock.

Her brain short circuited as the boy in front of her opened his mouth, pulling his hands up to quickly pacify her but her brain finally caught up to her voice and she did the first thing that came to mind.

She screamed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

* * *

It's a wonder Max hadn't bolted down the hallway after hearing Alice's scream. She always said he slept like the dead, and from Anne's stories he'd always been a heavy sleeper. Still, in the back of Alice's mind, she wondered how he still managed to sleep through her shrieking.

Once Alice regained her bearings, throat burning raw from the sudden strain it'd been put through, her first reflex was to slam the door in the intruder's face. She turned her back, leaning against the door, arms spread eagle for extra pressure as she breathed heavily and tried not to panic. Someone had gotten into her house. Someone had _broken_ into her _new_ house after she'd only been there _six days_.

Something was wrong with that picture.

Aunt Liza had said she lived in a safe neighborhood – low crime rate, never any serious news stories about the town. Alice even did her own research on the Internet. Realtor dot com was a _liar_. Four stars her ass. She knew the price was too good to be true.

Alice's eyes darted every which way, trying to locate anything within arm range that could be used as a weapon. She settled for the mauve lamp she kept at her bedside. Then she tried coming up with a battle plan. She realized her phone was on the other side of the room and hissed. She needed to call the police, but if she stepped away from the door it'd compromise her safety. Could she dial 911 that fast before she got attacked? What if they had an actual, legitimate weapon?

Then suddenly her eyes widened. Max!

She threw the door open, ready to barge down the hallway and break the lamp over the intruder's head before he got to the boy, but to her surprise they were still standing outside her bedroom door.

If she had noticed a little sooner, maybe she wouldn't have collided with him and sent them both tumbling to the ground.

"What the—!"

The boy groaned as she landed on top of him, limbs flailing as she tried to push herself away whilst keeping hold of the lamp at the same time. Once she reclaimed her footing, she crouched defensively and held the lamp out as threateningly as she possibly could, shaking like a leaf.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you doing in my house?"

The boy groaned again, rubbing his porcelain-white forehead with equally pale fingers. If Alice hadn't been so terrified, she might've been enthralled by his appearance and alarmingly smooth, nearly luminescent skin.

He crawled onto his knees and Alice readied herself in case he tried anything funny.

"Max's window was open," he casually jabbed his finger in the direction of the aforementioned boy's room, still grimacing, and Alice reeled.

"Max's window..." her jaw dropped and she felt rage boiling in the pit of her stomach, blood racing white hot through her veins. "You sick freak!"

"No, wait, that's not what I—"

"I ought to bash your head open," Alice flung the lamp at his head and he just barely dodged it with a yelp, bouncing up onto his feet and slamming into the wall closest to him as the lamp shattered where he once laid.

"Are you trying to _kill me_ with a _pink lamp?_ "

"It's _mauve_ , you asshole!"

She realized she had no way to defend herself now that her only weapon was destroyed. She wasn't a fighter and not courageous enough to suddenly try to be one, but she had nowhere to run. Next to her bedroom was a dead end and she had a feeling if she tried running back into her room, it'd be almost too easy for him to follow before she got the door shut again. It was probably for the best though, seeing as how she needed to keep the intruder in her line of sight in case he tried getting to Max.

The white-haired boy held out his hands again and though he'd only been trying to comfort her, she jumped back into the wall behind her anyway. "Hey, let's just take it easy," he tried, voice lower-pitched than she would have assumed now that she allowed herself to listen. He didn't look more than sixteen or seventeen.

"I have nothing to steal," she said stupidly. It was like a bank teller saying they didn't have any money. There was always something to steal. The cleaning crew always stole her pens at work. People were crazy. "What do you want?" her eyes tightened into slits. "How long had you been standing at my door? Were you watching me change?" she cried incredulously.

"If I had known you were changing maybe I would have dropped by a little sooner."

Alice flushed from head to toe and glowered fiercely at the boy, eyes ablaze with fire. Clearly she hadn't appreciated his attempt at a joke. He threw his hands up defensively.

"Kidding _._ Look, I didn't see anything. I just came to make sure you were alright," the boy said exasperatedly, as if the notion of him breaking into someone's house to check on its inhabitant's health was painfully ordinary and she was just being a nuisance.

Alice bristled.

"Wow, thank you for the concern. Are you my neighbor or something? Couldn't you have done something normal and just knocked on the door? In the _morning?_ "

"I'm not exactly your neighbor, okay? But earlier today when you were almost hit by the truck—"

"How did you know about that?" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Who are you?"

The boy scowled. "If you would just _shut up_ for two seconds, that's what I'm trying to tell you," he said through gritted teeth and she winced. "I was there this afternoon."

She shook her head disbelievingly. "How did you find out where I lived? Have you been stalking me all day?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he muttered beneath his breath but she heard him anyway and narrowed her eyes. That weird feeling was coming back to her. "But I know Max."

She opened her mouth, ready to try and throw punches whether she could actually dish out any real damage or not, feeling intensely angry again when he quickly shouted, "I'm not a pervert, okay! My name's Jack," he told her. "I was there earlier when you almost got hit by the truck. I saved you, I pushed you out of the way. Well, I didn't _actually_ push you since I couldn't touch you," he added offhandedly. "But the Wind was able to knock you out of the way for me. I didn't mean for it to be such a close call, by the way," he was speaking as though they were old friends catching up over tea. "I panicked and forgot that since you didn't believe in me, I couldn't make any physical contact. Luckily I remembered the Wind could."

Alice didn't have a logical retort. He referred to the wind like it was a physical being. He claimed to have been there when she was tossed out of the way. The weird feeling he gave her was the same weird feeling she'd been having all day, like the two were somehow connected. She knew something had happened on the road; it wasn't right that she hadn't been hit. There was no way the truck had veered off course just in time to sideswipe her completely.

But this? This was too much.

She shook her head again. "Are you on drugs?" Alice demanded. Maybe it would explain why his hair looked so wispy and not of this world, and his skin radiated a glow similar to that of the moon. Maybe it was a new drug the kids in Burgess were doing nowadays that made them look ethereal and break into innocent people's houses to have friendly chats and not steal anything.

The boy, _Jack's_ , eyebrows furrowed and he pushed himself away from the wall. She inched further back into the corner, trying to keep a steady distance between the two of them.

"What? No," he looked aggravated. "You adults are too much, no one wonder we have nothing to do with you."

"I think you need to go to a hospital," Alice said. "You need an MRI or something."

"You know," he completely ignored her and looked as though he had an epiphany. "At first it didn't make sense that you could see me, but after you so gracefully slammed me into the ground," he glared at her for this. "I think I get why. You knew something was off about the truck. You knew something pushed you out of the way because I know for a fact that right before you passed out, you looked straight at me," Jack pointed accusingly at her. "You may not have necessarily believed in me, but you believed that _something_ saved your life."

His words were hitting too close to home. She thought back to when she hit the ground. The silvery white hair, the pale skin, the blue hoodie… it was all eerily similar to what was standing right before her. No, not similar. Exactly the same. There was no way for her brain to deny it. There was still a possibility that she was having a mass hallucination, though.

"Jack," she repeated his name. She remembered all the times Pippa and Max mentioned a certain winter spirt with the same name, and the one time she and said spirit had a brief conversation through Max. It had all been figurative though, unless for some insane reason it hadn't. Eyeing the boy from head to toe, she drank in the sight of his attire and otherworldly glow. The crystalized frost stood out to her the most along the shoulders and neckline of his hoodie.

"You wouldn't happen to be Jack Frost," she hesitated. "Would you?"

He raised an eyebrow, surprise flickering across his face before he grinned with childlike excitement, resting against his hooked staff.

"The one and only."

Alice felt faint again. "Oh."

Her brain whirred to life, spinning out of her control after having been placed on autopilot for so long. She didn't know what to make of the thoughts racing around inside her head, trying to find an outlet to express all the emotions she was currently feeling. Shock, confusion, disbelief, betrayal, a bit of insanity… all of them combined made her nauseous. One person wasn't meant to feel so much at once.

"I think I need to sit down," she slid down the wall behind her and a hint of concern flashed in Jack's eyes. Alice clenched her eyes shut, the dull throbbing of the bump on her head returning, bringing a muffled buzzing to her ears with it.

Jack knelt down before her carefully, inching his way towards her slowly to make sure she was comfortable with being in close proximity of him. When she didn't protest, he watched her closely. "Is there… anything you need? An aspirin or something?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

She declined. "No, just give me a moment for my head to stop spinning."

The two sat quietly for a minute or two. Alice kept her eyes closed, willing all her thoughts to quiet down while also praying that the wound beneath the bandages would stop pulsating to the beat of her heart. It only contributed to the growing feeling of unease in her stomach and she really didn't want to throw up all over the spirit of winter. For all she knew, he'd curse Burgess in retaliation and cast a never-ending blizzard on the town.

She needed to cool down.

"Can you get me some ice or something, please?"

She couldn't believe she was asking Jack Frost, who was practically a stranger to her not to mention imaginary only twenty minutes ago, to wander through her house and into her kitchen to grab some ice out of her freezer. It was like the start of a bad joke.

Jack's smirk returned, though it was a bit on the softer side as she squinted up at him warily.

"I can do you one better," he said.

He gently lifted his hand to her forehead and she nearly protested until the icy chill of his palm shocked her into submission. The skin of his hand cast a comforting blue glow upon her face and a sigh of content escaped her lips and before she could stop them her eyes closed.

She enjoyed the coolness of his hand in silence for a couple seconds, feeling his thumb trail back and forth along her hairline and threatening to lull her to sleep. Alice resisted and opened her eyes, glancing up at the boy who continued to watch her with an unreadable look on his face.

Part of her was waiting for the rational section of her brain to flicker back to life and force her to run the other way. Because at the moment, she felt strangely safe in his presence. Not in the sense that she felt protected by him, but more so unafraid of the possibility of him harming her. He didn't seem all that dangerous, though sneaking in through children's windows at night made that observation debatable. But from what she could see, the only thing she really needed to worry about was his snark.

Alice was no stranger to bad vibes. She'd met a lot of people in her life that just rubbed her the wrong way and she knew something about them was sketchy. Generally, she was right. Jack, however, didn't make her feel that way. She felt a little certifiable, but that was in a completely different ballpark. Although he was barely an acquaintance to her still, she wasn't too opposed to the idea of him no longer being a stranger and she figured that was a start. If she wasn't crazy.

"If you're real," Alice began carefully. "Does that mean everything else is, too? All the fairy tales we grew up with?"

"Every single one," Jack nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he continued to kneel at her eye level.

She furrowed her brows. "Then why are we told they're not? Why does everyone say they're just children's stories?"

"Because they're adults," Jack said. That had been the answer to a lot of her questions lately. _Because you're a grown up,_ Pippa had said. _You're an adult,_ Max said. As if it were a bad thing. It wasn't like she could help growing up. "Adults don't like to believe in something that isn't scientifically proven as fact. They have to see it with their eyes, it has to be rational," Jack rolled his own eyes at this.

"Well I mean, that is the point of your eyes. To make you see," said Alice.

Jack gave her a pointed look. "Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there."

Alice couldn't exactly disagree with him. It was selfish to assume that Earth was the only planet to home living organisms, and arrogant to believe that humans were the only intelligent lifeform in the universe. Which meant one would have to be extremely narrow-minded to believe that there was only one plane of existence. There were millions upon millions of documented sightings of otherworldly beings – ghosts, shadow people, etc. Hell, you could turn on the TV at any time and there'd be at least one show playing on the paranormal or extraterrestrial. It wasn't so impractical to assume that fairytale creatures weren't just myths.

"Grown-ups don't want to believe in something they can't explain," Jack continued, the temperature of his palm dropping ever so slightly as he spoke. "They pretend to believe in it until their kid's old enough and then they get sick of pretending, so they tell them none of it's real. Kind of a drag I guess, but it's not like it bothers us at all. We want as little to do with them as they do us. Our existences don't depend on their beliefs," he smirked a little again.

"It's kind of like that saying," Alice said softly. "If you show a caveman technology, he'll think it was magic. But if you show a modern man magic, he'll think it was technology. Over time, people just kind of evolve with lesser open-minds."

Jack gave a lopsided smile, making him seem a lot younger than he was. "Ain't that the truth."

Alice quirked somewhat of a half-smile, relaxing into his hand and exhaling slowly.

"So, Jack Frost," she said quietly. He raised his eyebrow again, appearing amused. "You think my glasses are nerdy."

It was more of a statement than an actual accusation or question. Jack seemed taken aback, as if it was certainly not one of the first things he expected her to say to him. Then he chuckled and shrugged an innocent shoulder. "What can I say, you look like you should have your nose buried in a book."

"That's a bit of a cinematical stereotype, don't you think?" Alice asked, eyes narrowed and once again trying to discern if she should be offended or not.

Jack shrugged again, seemingly enjoying the conversation as his fingertips dug playfully into her scalp, careful not to press into the wound and hurt her.

"I have a lot of time on my hands and it's easy to get into the movies for free when no one can see you," he waggled his eyebrows mischievously. "Not teasing you though, like I said the other day," he continued. Alice couldn't believe he had actually been talking to her. Vicariously through Max, anyway. "They look nice."

She decided to accept the compliment while she was ahead. "You also said I smell like candy canes."

Jack appeared sheepish, though not enough so to where he refused to admit it. She felt the cold radiate off of him in waves, and she idly wondered if that was his way of blushing. She felt proud to have embarrassed him, if that were the case. She'd been on the receiving end of embarrassment enough by him. "I didn't actually expect Max to tell you that, it was just something I noticed."

"Well," she huffed out something akin to a laugh. "It's peppermint leaves that you smelled," she informed him and he listened, lips still quirked as she attempted to defend herself. "It's in my shampoo. I don't actually carry around candy canes in my pockets."

"That's too bad," he hummed, followed by a quick grin. "I like candy canes."


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

* * *

"Tomorrow's my first day. What do I _wear?_ " Alice stressed, digging through her half-packed closet and tossing out miscellaneous items along the way. She was young for a personal banker, she knew that. She had a few months experience at her Ohio bank but most stuck their noses down at teenage bankers, as if they couldn't possibly know how to do their jobs correctly.

It was yet another thing she was judged for based on her age and it drove her mad. But this was something she couldn't help. The business industry was always going to be prejudiced on young employees. Every kid looking for a job had faced it at least once – you need a job to get experience but you need experience to get a job. It was a vicious circle.

So she needed to dress to impress. Most banks required a business dress code, occasionally business casual on Fridays or before the holidays. She had her fair share of blazers, pencil skirts, dress suits and collared shirts. She loathed wearing heels because her feet could never get used to them and she felt self-conscious whenever she tried walking in them, but she had a feeling her one pair of black pumps would have to be her choice of footwear for her first day.

Alice sincerely hoped there wouldn't be much ice on the ground. This time she wouldn't need to be threatened by an out of control stock truck to fall and crack her head open.

"This is boring," Jack stated dully, holding up a pink silk shirt and feigning contempt as he stared at it with a disinterested raised eyebrow. He was lounging on her bed, legs kicked up and crossed as he relaxed into her pillows with an arm tossed behind his head.

"You sound like Max," she rolled her eyes, kneeling down to open one of her boxes and scowling when she unhelpfully came cross her summer clothes.

"You should wear this," said Jack. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the nearly transparent red shirt he was holding up with the tip of his pointer finger. Clearly she would have to wear a shirt underneath it for it to even be decent. "If someone tries to rob the place, you'd just have to stand up and they'll completely forget why they came in there in the first place."

Feeling her face heat up, she marched over to him and snatched the article of clothing out of his hand as he snickered like a twelve-year-old boy.

"Stop going through my stuff," she hissed, embarrassed. She needed to make real friends, preferably girls and not imaginary fairy tale beings that had the maturity of a pre-teen boy going through puberty.

"You're throwing all of it on me!" he countered, gesturing wildly to the stack of clothes surrounding him.

"Yeah well it's my bed, maybe you should get off of it."

Alice turned back to the closet, hanging the red shirt and placing it back where it belonged.

"Why are you even picking an outfit now anyway?" Jack continued to complain. "You don't start until tomorrow."

"The last thing I want is to spend all morning trying to figure out what to wear and be late for work," she said.

"Girls," Jack muttered.

Alice wanted to pull her hair out. He was only adding to her anxiety and she didn't have room for any more emotional baggage.

"Why don't you go play with Max? I think he's with your pal Jamie."

She'd yet to tell Max about her run in with the winter spirit. He still continued to talk excitedly about him like he was the greatest thing to ever exist and she didn't want to make him feel like she was taking Jack away from him. Whenever Jack stopped by, Max always happened to be somewhere else.

Probably wondering where Jack was.

She had to admit that it felt nice talking to someone who wasn't a decade younger than her and could hold a conversation on an intellectual level (the term 'intellectual' being used loosely in regards to Jack Frost), but truth be told she honestly didn't know how old he was to begin with.

Besides, the reason he existed was to protect and spend time with children. Not teenagers like her.

"I told them I'd be around later," he said casually. "I thought I knew someone else that could occupy my time just as well but clearly I was mistaken," she heard him smirk.

"Oh I'm so sorry my adult life is such a drag for you," she lamented sarcastically, opening another box.

"It truly is," Jack replied somberly. There was shuffling and then the air shifted, dropping a degree or two, and she saw Jack hovering over her bed, clutching his staff and frosting half of her bedroom wall over with sparkling snowflakes. "Why do you have to go to work? Don't you have anything else better to do?"

"How else do you expect me to pay the bills?" Alice contradicted. "Maybe if you call the money fairy over, she can fill my bank account with a few million dollars and then you can come talk to me about doing something else more _exciting_."

Jack abruptly stopped what he was doing and eyed her warily. "There's no such thing as a money fairy," he told her seriously, as if he actually thought she believed it.

"Oh well thank you for clearing that up."

She did feel a little bummed about that one, though.

Jack left not long after that, claiming that she was putting him to sleep and he'd rather set a blizzard on New York City instead. He told her that he was going to take Max around town again and carry a small doll by his side to freak out the adults into thinking the doll was hovering in midair. Last time they did that Max said the doll was his 'special friend' and nearly frightened a poor elderly couple half to death. The woman had clutched her cross necklace tightly in her wrinkly fist and uttered a few Hail Mary's as the boys passed, cackling at their ingenious.

Alice scolded him when she got Jack alone and told him he was a bad influence.

She eventually picked something to wear and hung it up on the outside of her closet door, not allowing herself to change her mind and go digging back through her clothes.

The gash on her forehead was doing remarkably well. It had only been three days since the accident and it was already scabbing over. She was attentive with her antiseptic and bandages so there shouldn't be a scar. Hopefully it wouldn't embarrass her tomorrow. Sometimes it had the tendency to get red and irritable and she would be absolutely mortified if it decided to swell up on her.

She went about business as usual for the better part of the day. She hated how incessantly tedious her life had gotten since moving to Burgess. Jack was about the only thing that kept her on her toes. Even visiting her aunt and uncle was starting to become frustratingly routine. At least back home she had friends she could talk to. Every once in a while they'd shoot her a text asking how she was doing, but other than that it was almost like her past life never existed.

Alice loathed to admit that Jack was onto something when he called her boring. But she'd only been there a week. It wasn't like in all the books where the new girl would move into a small town and suddenly everyone was interested in her, wanted to learn more about her and brought her homemade pies or casseroles. She still hadn't even met her neighbors.

Curling up in front of the large window in their entry room, nursing a cup of hot chocolate, she gazed out into the yard. It wasn't snowing as much as it had been recently and she honestly wondered if Jack was off in New York wreaking havoc like he said.

It was moments like these when she was alone with her thoughts that she wished she could go back to school. She loved learning. She had always dreamt of taking History or Astronomy classes. Subjects that would get her nowhere in life if she were to major in them. But she loved learning about the past, about her ancestors. She loved space and the stars.

If she could at least have her own telescope and maybe her own library. Then she'd be happy. But she wanted to go to an observatory and learn about the night sky. She wanted to visit Washington D.C. and read in the Library of Congress. She had all these ambitions that she'd never be able to fulfill.

It saddened her. She wished the world didn't work like that. She wished things could be easy. And free.

Checking the time on her phone, she figured it was time to go pick up Max. She hadn't even taken more than a few sips of her hot chocolate, so lost in her reverie, so she just threw the rest in a warm tumbler to give to Max.

Ignoring the fact that she still had her pink pajama pants on, she threw on a pair of warm boots and a jacket and made her way to the park. He'd had lunch over at Jamie's house, called her when he got there as she asked. She didn't want to smother him, but she also couldn't ignore her instincts to keep tabs on him. She remembered vividly how her parents let her be when she was little, playing with friends at the lake for hours or off rollerblading. She was able to understand their worry now when she wouldn't check in. If Max was out of her sight for too long something in her brain clicked and she instantly melted into unshakable worry.

The minute she approached the park, a smile erupted on her face. She watched as Max hid behind a park bench, white fluffy ammunition clutched in his hand as he peeked around, hiding from the rest of the boys as they attempted to throw snowballs at him.

She loved that kid.

Figuring she could wait a little bit longer, she ambled over to a spot under a tree that didn't have any snow and plopped herself on the ground. It was a little damp but nothing she couldn't handle.

She checked her phone for messages and emails, all the social media outlets and whatnot, before pocketing it and just admiring the view of the park. She listened to the shrieks of joy as the kids played, running around and slipping in the snow, eliciting howls of laughter from the rest of them. Max hadn't even noticed she was there.

It was a peaceful moment until an unmistakable voice startled her, "Just couldn't stay away, huh?"

Alice jumped, glancing from side to side fervently before remembering that Jack Frost defied all the laws of gravity and glanced up. He was floating innocently among the bare branches of the tree, chin resting in his hand. He looked like he was lying on his stomach on an invisible floor and the sight of him in midair still took her by surprise sometimes. It went against everything she believed in. Her sciences classes in high school had been a waste.

"Of course not," she said. "Your incredible wit brings me back every time."

"I mean, I won't disagree," he floated with ease down to the ground with her and crossed his legs Indian style. "I do have a certain charm, don't I?"

"A certain ego's more like it," she rolled her eyes good-naturedly and he didn't argue with her on it. Truth be told, she appreciated his charisma. It wasn't over-bearing and false. He liked to make people laugh, wanted everyone to have a good time. She couldn't fault him for that. She didn't find him arrogant in the least, but she didn't tell him that.

Alice could feel Jack's eyes on her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end like they would if anyone else were watching her, but she didn't say anything and waited for him to.

"You know," he started. "I may not notice the cold since I _am_ the cold in every sense of the word," that was his way of boasting without actually boasting and she smirked inwardly. "But I know for a fact it's not warm outside."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that your way of being concerned for me? Because it could use a little work," she mocked, not unkindly.

He rolled his eyes. "Are you cold?" he asked outright and she wanted to laugh at his indignation. "I can kick it down a notch if you want."

Immediately she could feel the temperature rise a bit as he hadn't even waited for her to answer. She smiled, unable to hold it back. "I was fine but thank you, I do feel better now."

"You're welcome. I'm hot now, but you're welcome."

Even though he grinned a little at his statement, clearly indicating that he wasn't serious, her eyebrows still furrowed in concern. She hadn't intentionally meant for him to make himself uncomfortable just to appease her.

"I didn't mean for—" she began, only to be interrupted by Jack shaking his head, giving her that amused look like he was positively entertained by everything she did.

"I was just kidding," he chuckled. "I'm fine. Really. I can take the heat," he winked and she offhandedly wondered how he could possibly feel warm in 45-degree weather. But he _was_ the spirit of winter so she didn't bother questioning it in fear of making herself look like an idiot.

"How do you do that?" she asked. Jack did that thing where he tilted his head, making himself look younger than he actually was. "Adjust your body temperature like you do," she clarified.

"Well," Jack rubbed his jaw absently. "I'm kind of always giving off these waves of cold, I do it without even realizing it. But if I concentrate, I can make those waves emit less coldness if I want them to, or more if I'm feeling hot."

"What happens to you if you get warm?" she asked curiously. "When _do_ you get warm?"

"Obviously sooner than you do," he laughed a little. "Over the years I've noticed that when it gets to be about 60-65 degrees, I start to sweat. I can usually make myself cooler if I want to, but if it's too warm for me then sometimes I can't concentrate well enough on it because my body's too distracted by the heat to focus its energy on the magic."

 _Magic,_ she thought almost gleefully. Magic was real. How cool was that?

"Wow," she said. "And I thought I was bad when I feel hot in like May. Where do you go when it's summer and all hot and humid? Alaska?" she joked.

He shrugged. "Sometimes. Antarctica's usually pretty nice in July," Alice snapped her mouth shut, not expecting him to actually admit to it. Jack laughed. "I'm serious!"

She shook her head amusedly. "I'll take your word for it, Frost."

Alice gazed on as Jack scooped up a ball of his own ice. It shined a bit in his grip, iridescent and coming to life, and he threw it towards the kids with perfect aim and hardly any effort at all. It hit Max straight in the face and Alice could have sworn his eyes glowed for a split second before he cackled merrily, as if in a trance, and chased after Jamie and a boy named Claude. They were too distracted to realize that it was Jack who threw the snowball.

It was fascinating to watch. Alice thought they looked happy before, but now they were absolutely giddy with excitement. She wondered what kind of magic Jack possessed to make them act that way. Then she wondered if it really mattered. His magic was pure, designed specially to make children see the light in dark places. It was kind of beautiful.

"I've never seen Max so happy," Alice noted, gauging Jack's reaction.

He placed a hand over his chest in mock honor. "Was that a compliment?"

Alice rolled her eyes again, something she found she did a lot around Jack, but smiled nonetheless. "I'm just saying, you must be doing something right. I've never seen him act this way before."

"He's never acted this way around you?" Jack asked. He quickly back-tracked, "I mean, you _are_ his mother. Don't really think I stand a chance against you."

Alice was thrown for a second. She knew a moment like this would have to come eventually, but for some reason it was still completely unexpected. She'd never done this before. Never been around someone who didn't know her story. It felt foreign to her and a bit frightening.

"Max isn't my son," Alice said carefully. She couldn't understand why Jack seemed so shocked by that, considering how unlikely it was if one just did the math. "I mean he is, but he's not. Not biologically. I would've had to have been pregnant at _eleven_ if that were the case, Jack."

She expected him to feel embarrassed or maybe apologetic, but he just looked lost. "I mean—I guess I just assumed—you're—" he stammered and for once he managed to look flustered and out of his element. "You're younger than you look. I always thought you were older."

Alice laughed a little at his sputtering. "I'm only nineteen, Jack."

"Well then," he looked so inherently frustrated that he didn't understand what was going on it and it was amusing to watch. "What's the deal with Max then? I mean, I get that you're his guardian. But why? You're so young," he furrowed his delicate eyebrows. It occurred to her that he didn't realize he was overstepping his boundaries. In some cases, he was just as naïve as the children he protected. He didn't understand when it was appropriate to just stop asking questions. Like part of his mind never actually grew up.

"Yeah, so I've been told," she remarked dryly, brushing it aside for now and deciding it just didn't matter. She leaned back against her hands. "It's a long story, Jack. And I'm not sure I'm comfortable with sharing it just yet."

Alice never had to tell anyone about what happened. She'd only lived in one place and everyone either heard the story on the news or through the grapevine. She didn't know what it was going to be like explaining all the details. She didn't know how it would affect her. If she'd burst into tears or what. And the last thing she wanted to do was break down in front of someone she hardly knew.

Jack considered her words before leaning back as well, mirroring her position. The two of them gazed off into the distance, watching the explosion of color against the vast evening sky, molding from brilliant golds to warm pinks and soft purples as the world welcomed dusk. They shared an amiable silence, just enjoying the weather and the comfort of each other's presence, children's laughter still evident as soothing background noise.

"You know," Jack spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb the calm air that had situated itself amongst them. "If you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here," he told her earnestly.

Alice glanced over at him, surprised. Those were the last words she expected to hear from him, and never had he used such a sincere tone before.

"I just… you look like you need someone," Jack tried to explain, pushing himself forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he gazed at her intently. "When things get hard, sometimes all you need to do is have someone you know you can talk to. To get everything off your chest. I get that, I've been there," he shrugged, smiling crookedly. "I just want you to know that I _am_ here. I'm willing to be that person for you, if you need me to be."

Alice was stunned. The last person she expected to offer her a shoulder to lean on was Jack Frost. The guy was all snowballs and fun times, as per his words on multiple occasions. Clearly he had much better things to do.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked honestly.

Jack had the decency to look mildly offended. "I'm not a bad guy," he defended himself.

She cracked a small grin. "I didn't mean it that way. But why would you want to listen to me rant? It's not fun, I can vouch for that," she laughed a little.

He shrugged again, very nonchalant. "I like to think I'm a good judge of character and you seem like a good person. Good people shouldn't have to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders," he spoke as if from experience and Alice idly wondered what happened to him in the past to make him think that way. "I know that you have a lot on your plate, what with Max and everything. It can be hard when you have all these other things on your mind. Sometimes it's just easier when you can say some of the stuff out loud, have someone listen to what you have to say. That way it's all out in the open and not trapped inside your head anymore."

She was taken aback. Again. "You sound very wise, Jack Frost. How old are you again?" she teased.

He raised an eyebrow with a cheeky grin. "Seventeen."

Alice rolled her eyes at him pleasantly. "You _look_ seventeen."

"My charm's never really worn off," he bragged lightly and she guffawed.

They didn't say anything for a few moments but Jack gently nudged her shoulder with his in a form of comradery and she smiled a little. The sun was quickly beginning its descent below the horizon and the deep red in the clouds was getting washed away by dark blues and greys.

"Anne," she said finally. She saw Jack turn to face her out of the corner of her eye and he tilted his head in question. "Max's mother. Her name was Anne," she smiled sadly over at him. "She was my best friend."

Jack's eyes glistened in reflection of the setting sun and were alight with understanding. He slide closer to her so their shoulders were touching. It was a sign of acknowledgement that he was there and he would listen and she couldn't have been more grateful for it.

"I knew her almost my entire life. When I was little, my parents used to go to church and our families met there. I was about five or six. She was a couple years older than me – five, to be exact – but we were in the same Sunday school class and we went to Bible study together, all that. We became pretty good friends, but she had friends her age and I did, too. The older I got, the closer we became. She was the big sister I never had and I think she liked spoiling me like a little sister. I think my parents were a little uncomfortable with me being so close to someone so much older than me, but they loved her to death anyway because she was just likeable. She had everyone wrapped around her finger."

Alice laughed a little, surprised that she didn't feel any tears burning her eyes yet. Instead, she just felt happy reminiscing. "But things changed when she turned sixteen. She made a mistake. She got pregnant. It didn't work out with the father and her parents stopped letting her go to church even though she felt it was important for her to be there. She was always more religious than I was. I went because I felt like I had to go, but she went because she wanted to."

She leaned her head back and glanced up at the branches rocking in the cool breeze. The sun had almost completely sunken below the horizon and it was getting chilly out. The kids were congregating near the bench Max had been using as his shield, tired and out of breath as they chatted animatedly.

"Anyway, it was rough for her but she had the baby. Max. Her mom had been sick for a few years, battling with leukemia and not long after Max was born she passed away. It kind of tore apart her family because her father was dependent on her mother. But she got through it and was a fantastic mother for being so young. I got to spend a lot of time with Max, helped her with him and babysat when I got older.

"It's because of her that he turned out so great," she looked over at Jack. He hadn't taken his eyes off her since she began speaking and he looked enthralled with the story, hanging off of every word she spoke. "Anne was such a good mom. She always had good manners, always had a smart head on her shoulders. I mean, sure she made some mistakes but who doesn't? She was only human. And she took responsibility for those mistakes."

Alice felt bitter as she remembered the way people had treated her. She couldn't remember how many times she had to defend Anne's honor. How many times she stood up for her because she couldn't stand the thought of strangers – people that didn't even _know_ her – tarnishing her name. People were ignorant.

"What happened to her?" Jack asked softly.

Alice trained her gaze on her hands, wringing her fingers together. "It was a really bad car accident," she said. "She hit her head real hard on the steering wheel, was knocked out right away. She woke up in the hospital not long after it happened, talking and laughing like everything was normal. The nurses said it was a miracle she was even awake so soon," she laughed resentfully. "But she was dead and didn't know it."

Things suddenly fell heavy between them as the atmosphere thickened.

"About a week later, they found out too late that she was bleeding into her brain. She just kind of… went to sleep one day. She was given surgery, but it was a waste. They said she was brain dead. Alive, but only by machine. They said that she could be kept on life support, but she would never wake up. It happened so suddenly that no one knew what to do."

Jack never said a word as she spoke, holding true to his promise of just listening to her talk. And she had to admit that it felt kind of good to say it all. Like she had it pent up for so long that she never realized just how much a burden it really was to keep it bottled up until she finally let it all go. She just needed to let it go.

"Her dad, the only living relative she had, kind of lost it after he told them to pull the plug. He didn't want anything to do with Max; didn't want to look at the living reminder that his daughter no longer existed. He refused guardianship of Max and said to do whatever with him they could. Anne made me his godmother, so technically I was next in line. Social Services didn't like that, though. They said I was too young, too incapable of taking care of another human being. But they couldn't say no since it was written in Anne's will that if something were to happen to her father, I would get custody. I was eighteen at the time so it was perfectly legal.

"I was kind of surprised to find out that she had a written will," she admitted. "But I guess that's just what comes with being a mother. You think of things no one else does. Part of me wondered if she somehow knew something was going to happen to her, and sometimes I still do, but how could she? It was just one of those things. A freak accident. Unpredictable."

Alice shook those thoughts away. They were best left for another time. "Anyway, they tried working with him on it, but he passed away about a month later. Coroner's report was that he died of an overdose. He'd never been right in the head after Anne's mom died. Was always a little unstable, and on the inside I was thankful he didn't want Max because I didn't trust him.

"When Social Services figured out that I was Max's only legal guardian, I was granted custody but they kept a close eye on me. They inspected where I lived, stopping by unannounced two or three times a month to make sure the place was kept clean. They demanded to know how much money I was making, how much money I had to spend on rent and utilities, and how much money I had left over for food and clothes and other necessities. It was both humiliating and infuriating," she gritted her teeth, remembering all the stares she'd gotten from the neighbors after seeing people in suits invading her home as if she were a criminal.

"I worked at a local bank, had been ever since I was seventeen because my dad was good friends with the owner. I made good money for an eighteen year old after getting so many raises and bonuses, even a promotion, and not once did I get a mark against me saying I couldn't afford to look after him. But they kept pestering me anyway, just waiting for the moment I'd screw up." She admitted a little proudly, "I never did. They even took me to court for it, saying it was mandatory that after so many months, I have a hearing to determine my progress. The judge ruled that I was a worthy caregiver, and then I decided to move. I was just done with them."

Alice sighed, feeling tired and she went back to playing with her fingers. Jack continued to listen, ever watchful as he brushed his hand over hers in comfort. He eventually managed to peel her hands apart after he realized she wasn't going to stop wringing them together and picking at them. She rested them behind her again instead and supported her weight on them.

"My parents never really approved of the idea of me taking Max in. They never got in the way, especially whenever Social Services were involved because that would have just made matters worse for me, but we kind of had a falling out when I gained custody of him. My dad said I was throwing my life away 'unnecessarily'," she used air quotes. "And my mom didn't really say anything which meant that she agreed with him."

Alice would always resent her parents a little for that, but she didn't have the time nor the will power to feel angry with them. The way she saw it, as long as they were out of sight, they were out of mind.

"I couldn't handle all the negativity surrounding Max," she continued. "I rented an apartment as soon as I could and moved out of my parents' house. It was good enough for the time being until I had enough money saved. I did some part time at the library and the animal shelter, too. Whoever needed extra hands. Even though it was minimum wage, I'd take it. Money was money," she shrugged. "When I had enough, I figured it was time. Social Services weren't legally holding me back anymore, so I talked to my aunt and uncle out here who'd always been more open-minded about my situation with Max and looked online and eventually… bought a house."

It felt a little weird to her when she finished. She felt satisfied, for lack of a better word. It was almost therapeutic for her. She couldn't count the amount of times in the past she considered therapy. It was just a luxury she couldn't afford.

She sighed heavily, squinting up at the sky as stars began to sparkle and glitter across the night. It was calm and serene and she found that she felt very at ease. "So there you have it," she breathed. "That's the story."

Jack didn't respond for a few seconds, but then he slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a friendly hug. She was able to hide her shock well enough, but it'd been a long time since she'd been so close to someone that wasn't family. "You are strong as hell, kid."

Alice shook her head. "No," she said. She wasn't being modest. "I just did the right thing. I couldn't bear the thought of Max being put through foster care," she bit her lip. "He's such a sweet kid. He wouldn't have been treated right," she almost went to play with her fingers again but Jack stopped her and instead held one of her hands in his.

There was spark as their fingers connected, and not in an emotional way but a physical way; it was a soft blue glow that made her skin tingle, not unpleasantly. She smiled slightly at this, fleetingly noting how much bigger his hands were than hers and the stark contrast between their skin tones. He still had that ethereal glow about him that made him seem otherworldly. Alice supposed he technically was.

"I don't mean to sound pretentious," she started carefully, watching with fascination as his thumb trailed back and forth across her hand, leaving sparkles of frost in its wake. "But I didn't think anyone could take better care of Max than I could. That's also why I did it. I knew that I was young, didn't make a lot of money, didn't own a house. But I wanted to take him anyway," she glanced up at him, feeling small under his gaze and she asked uncertainly, "Does that make me a bad person? Selfish?"

Jack shook his head slowly and squeezed her hand gently in reassurance. "Not at all," he told her, voice gravely and low. "If anything, it makes you a better person."

"My biggest fear is that I'm going to fail Max," Alice said honestly. "That one day I'm not going to be enough and Social Services are going to take him away from me. Tell me their I told you so's."

The look Jack was giving her was so endearing. "That's never gonna happen."

"You promise?" she asked childishly.

He chuckled. "I promise."

She smiled thankfully at him and then there was a pause. "I can't believe you're seriously the one calling _me_ kid," she joked, elbowing him gently in the stomach. His body felt cold against hers, even with the buffer of their warm hoodies in between them, but she didn't find it to be unappealing.

"Hey," Jack smirked. "Technically I'm centuries older than you. You need to learn how to respect your elders, princess," he flicked her nose and she swatted him away, enjoying how the mood lightened considerably.

"But you're only seventeen," she teased.

Jack raised an eyebrow with a crooked grin. "I only _look_ seventeen."

* * *

 **A/N: Big thanks to so in her own head, Aqua Lilly, KittyCatKate, BrokenSouloftheDarkness, vcaldwell52, and guests for the reviews! I always love reading them! It still blows me away at the amount of follows and favorites this story continues to get. Always nice to hear your work is well liked.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

* * *

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Everyone toasted, raising their glasses to one another while the kids clanged their soda bottles together. Alice wasn't a fan of alcohol but she enjoyed drinking wine on the holidays. It was the one thing that made her feel like an adult. Sophisticated. Because having an adopted child wasn't an adult-like quality at all. Apparently.

Her first two weeks at the bank were painless. She hadn't been there long enough to know everyone who worked there personally, but at least those she shared a shift with were friendly enough.

On her first day they told her they didn't get a lot of business and that most days were slow. They certainly weren't wrong. She had three whole customers her first eight days and she was more or less bored out of her mind. She hoped work would be her salvation to the monotony her life had molded itself into but honestly it'd just made matters worse. She woke up at an unpleasantly early hour, went to work to be bored for eight hours, and then went home to be bored for another eight hours until it was late enough to sleep and then the cycle started all over again the next day.

At least with Max he'd made some new friends at school. Not that Alice was complaining about his current friends, but it was nice to know that he had kids his own age to play with. But he still spent an unorderly amount of time with Pippa and Jamie. Not that she was complaining. He was rarely home anymore because he was either at the park or someone's house or off gallivanting with Jack Frost but _she wasn't complaining_.

Jack had taken a liking to Max she noticed. Obviously he enjoyed the kid at first, but she was beginning to notice a few changes. From the information she gathered from the stories, Jack had a soft spot for Jamie and they were nearly inseparable for months. But over the course of the last two weeks, more often than not Jack was with Max. Either playing with Pippa and Co., building race tracks for their sleds at the park, or even in the comfort of their own backyard where they built snowmen of their own.

Max was a very likable kid. He had nearly everyone he met wrapped around his little finger, so Alice wasn't necessarily surprised. But she didn't know if her sudden interest in Max and Jack's relationship stemmed from her newfound monotony or if it was something more. Something akin to resentment or jealousy that bubbled portentously in the pit of her stomach.

She wasn't going to let it bother her. If anything she was proud that her motherly tendencies were finally beginning to rear their ugly heads. Mothers were protective of their kids. And mothers were also offended when their kids preferred spending time with winter spirits rather than with them. Especially during the holidays.

Alice had managed to snag Max away from Jack for a nice Thanksgiving meal though which she was probably more proud of than she cared to admit. She pretended that all the food and sweets _weren't_ the real reason Max wanted to be there.

She watched as the blonde-haired boy shrieked with laughter as Pippa threatened to stuff mashed potatoes in his hair, claiming that they'd blend right in and no one would ever notice. Alice smiled a little to herself. Max's cheeks were flushed a splotchy red, startlingly blue eyes gleaming and alert under the dining room chandelier as he played with Pippa. His teeth were a mismatch of shapes and sizes as he was beginning to lose his baby teeth more frequently. He started going on about the Tooth Fairy recently which Jack was no doubt to blame. Sometimes Alice forgot that all the other fairytales were real, too. Jack was the only one she'd ever met after all. But in the back of her mind a voice kept whispering excitedly that Santa Claus was alive and kicking somewhere in the North Pole, probably preparing toys for Christmas at that very moment.

Alice raised the glass of wine to her lips and sipped, feeling content as she just watched Max with somewhat of a half-smile. His skin was beginning to pale from the layers of clothes he bundled up in every day. By the time January rolled around his skin was usually about the same color as his platinum hair, making the delicate freckles on his cheekbones more pronounced and frighteningly adorable. His bright red lips curled around his white teeth as he grinned at something Uncle Kevin said, startling another peal of laughter out of him. Uncle Kevin reached across the table to flick his nose.

She felt happy. Really happy. There was nothing like seeing her family together and embracing the time of year. Though it was regrettable that her parents weren't there too, or even her grandparents whom she never heard much from besides the occasional birthday card with a check for fifty dollars in it, it was enough just to be with her aunt and uncle. And Max. Honestly, as long as she was with Max, she was home. It didn't matter where, as long as he was close by. She didn't really care where life took her. He was her world now and she'd go wherever he'd go.

Alice glanced down at her empty glass. The wine was really getting to her head.

They ended up having some pumpkin pie and lemon meringue for dessert and Alice was left feeling stuffed and exhausted. Aunt Liza announced that she'd leave the dishes for in the morning and the five of them filed into the living room where they settled down and watched a movie, to which everyone eventually fell asleep to with Christmas carols echoing softly in the background.

Alice blinked herself awake some time later, mind hazy and eyes heavy as weights. She glanced sleepily down at her chest to see that Max had wrapped himself around her torso, mouth hanging open as he snored softly against her. She smiled before wiping the sleep out of her eyes, willing her body to wake up. The room smelled like fresh pinecones, firewood, and cinnamon, lights twinkling above the fireplace as a fire roared on to keep them warm.

Alice turned to face the window nearest to her and saw frost decorating the corners of the glass, snowflakes gently falling outside beneath the glow of the moon. _O' Come All Ye Faithful_ played quietly on the stereo as commercials flashed across the TV screen. Someone must have woken briefly to mute it.

Feeling the urge to stretch out her limbs, Alice gently lifted Max from her chest and he stirred a bit before settling against Pippa's side who was sprawled across the arm of the couch.

Alice stood and stretched, yawning widely before ambling over to the coatrack where she grabbed her fuzzy sweater and threw it over her head. Slipping on a pair of shoes, she quickly heated up a mug of hot cocoa before silently slipping out the backdoor and into the yard.

Pearlescent sheets of snow coated the ground, sparkling and glimmering as they cast an ethereal glow amongst Alice's skin as she trudged across it. She reached the fence that encircled the yard and rested her elbows against it, cupping the mug tightly in her palms as the warmth spread from its contents. She watched the sky with a look of contemplation, counting the stars absently as they twinkled up above. Steam emitted from her cocoa and when she exhaled, she saw her breath. It was chilly out but she didn't mind the cold.

Flakes of snow occasionally landed in her hair, eventually melting and dampening her ponytail. She sipped her cocoa every few minutes. The heat from it quickly vanished and by the time she was finished with it, it was as cold as the wet snow in her hair.

When a flake of snow tickled her nose, she blinked herself out of her stupor and felt a presence near her right side. She sighed, glancing forlornly down at her empty mug before tilting her head and meeting a pair of blue eyes that were watching her. Jack was sitting on top of the fence, balancing precariously with his staff leaning against the fence on his other side. She never heard him appear.

They didn't say anything for a minute or two. Jack joined her in watching the stars and there was companionable silence until Alice felt the need to break it.

"Happy Thanksgiving," she said.

Jack looked down at her. "Likewise," he said.

She clutched the mug tighter in her hands even though it no longer provided any warmth. "See any mystical creatures today?" she asked. "Maybe the Turkey God or something?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Well I did see Bunny earlier which is pretty close. Don't tell him I called him that though," he examined her carefully as she smiled a little at his attempt at a joke. "I'm not the best at reading people," he started. "But something tells me you're upset," he watched her face closely as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. She was sort of thrown of guard by the question. She wasn't very accustomed to opening up to people she'd just met.

When she didn't reply he said, "You know, you can still talk to me. It's not like that offer only stood for one day."

Alice shrugged a shoulder halfheartedly. "It's stupid."

"Try me."

She didn't understand why he cared but she didn't say that out loud. "I just feel… really happy," she said. Once the words left her mouth she realized just how odd they sounded.

Jack furrowed his eyebrows, looking lost. "And… that bothers you?" he asked. "Generally when someone's happy that's a good thing," he pointed out, only partially mocking her.

Alice smiled with mirth as she glanced up at him. "I'm usually the brooding type. This isn't something I'm used to," she admitted. She sat the mug on the fence before crossing her arms over chest and resting them against the wood. "It's been a long time since I've admitted to myself that I was happy. Probably the last time I actually _felt_ happy was when I was told Max was officially my son."

Jack's feet dangled in front of him and he swung his legs back and forth absently. "So what makes it so weird that you're happy now?"

Alice stared ahead without really seeing anything. She shook her head slightly. "It's just… whenever I've actually felt content with my life, something's gone wrong. Every time without fail. When I found out I got a full ride scholarship to Berkeley, Anne died. When I finally got Max, I thought Social Services were going to take him away from me."

"But he wasn't taken away from you," Jack emphasized.

"He could have just as easily been," said Alice, returning her gaze to meet his. "One wrong move and I never would have seen him again. There was plenty of close calls, all of which I got lucky to avoid. Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I'd done something different," she said, wringing her fingers together. Jack's own fingers twitched as he watched her pick at her nails, refraining from stopping her. It seemed to have bothered him when she did that. "How quickly he could have been taken away to some foster home where he'd be left there alone until he turned eighteen or adopted by some family that didn't really want him or deserve him."

Alice watched her fingers at they pulled at each other. She traced the gold band on the ring finger of her right hand that she always wore. It was given to her by her mother when she was around sixteen. It had a small amethyst stone in the center, both her birthstone and her mom's. Their birthdays were only two days apart.

Jack leaned towards her and caught her eye, holding the gaze firmly. "Then you just have to make sure that everyone gets that he's yours. Because he is totally and completely yours, Alice. Don't let anyone think differently."

Alice smiled a watery smile, appreciative of Jack's reassuring words.

Jack considered her for a second before turning to face ahead. The wind blew slightly as flurries of snow danced around them. "You need to get your mind off this. It's almost Christmas, you're supposed to stay happy and not mope around like an _adult_ ," he stated with finality, uttering the last word with obvious distaste. He grabbed his staff and leaned against it as he hovered above her. Suddenly he looked down at her and his blue eyes were swimming with mischief. "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

Alice raised her eyebrows, laughing a little in surprise at the random question. "What?"

"Just name a place," he said with an excited smile. "If you could go _anywhere_ right now, where would it be? What's the first place that comes to your mind?"

Alice shook her head at the quick turn of events. "Uh," she thought for a second, scouring her brain, before her eyes lit up. "The Library of Congress," she declared.

Jack scrunched up his face. "Seriously?" he asked, deflating a bit.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "Yes," she told him.

Jack's eyes widened and he quickly grinned. "Okay, the Library of Congress. Right. Yeah. When all else fails, read a history book. You're such a _nerd_."

Alice sputtered at the insult and he smirked. "Well," he turned his back towards her and gestured to himself. "Hop on! My guess is your family's going to be awake in about an hour or so and we wouldn't want them worrying about where you are," he said brightly.

"Wait, wait, wait—what?" Alice held up her hands and he eyed her over his shoulder. "You mean right now? You're going to take me there?"

"Yep."

"To the Library of Congress."

"Indeed."

"In Washington, D.C."

"That's the one."

"Well—" Alice didn't know what to say. One second she was mulling over the happiness her life had suddenly been blessed with (and being upset about it, which probably wasn't the weirdest thing she'd ever done) and the next she was being whisked away to a world-renowned library with the spirit of winter. Honestly, what the hell? If she didn't know any better she'd chalk it up to too much wine and eggnog.

"Any day now princess, I can only get us there so fast," Jack sang. He lowered himself a bit to where he was floating in front of her on the other side of the fence.

"Wait, we're going to _fly_ there?" Alice asked, feeling overwhelmingly skeptical about the intelligence of that plan.

"Well yeah, it's not like I can teleport us there. Well, I _could_ , but I don't exactly have the technology right now," Jack contemplated the notion before quickly shaking the thought out of his head.

"Wait," she said again. "Teleporting is a thing now? That can actually be done?" she asked, thinking she certainly hadn't heard him right. Though honestly, why was she still surprised by anything he said anymore?

"Yeah sort of, I'll have to show you some time. But stop changing the subject."

Alice bit her lip. She began weighing the pros and cons in her head. On the one hand, she really wanted to see the Library of Congress and chances are this was the only time she'd be able to do that. But at the same time, this was Jack who was offering to fly her there which was obviously reason enough for caution.

Noticing her hesitation, Jack smirked again. "Got a fear of heights or something, princess?"

"No but I do have a fear of falling," she squinted at him in annoyance.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I'm not going to drop you. Despite what you may think, I'm not weak and you don't look that heavy," he deliberately scanned her from head to toe as if to emphasize his point.

"You haven't lifted me yet so you don't know that for sure," she protested.

Jack groaned and wiped his free hand down his face. Then with a flick of his wrist that held his staff, a strong gust of wind forced Alice forward and she had to grab onto Jack's shoulders to steady herself. He used that to his advantage and the moment she had a steady grip, he shot upwards into the air and she gasped as she felt her stomach drop as the ground fell from beneath her feet. She wrapped her arms so tightly around Jack's neck that he almost couldn't breathe. He floated horizontally to where she was more laying on his back rather than dangling off of it which seemed to relieve her somewhat. He took that opportunity to readjust her iron-grip on his neck so he didn't suffocate.

Alice leaned up a bit on her elbows as her heart rate steadily returned to a normal pace. She felt the slightest traces of vertigo and averted her eyes from the ground that was at least ten stories beneath her and instead focused on the array of scattered lights that sprinkled the town of Burgess. Her mouth fell open as she gazed on in unconcealed awe. The view was so much better than the tiny one she always got through the foggy windows of an airplane.

Jack grinned over his shoulder as he gauged her reaction. "See? Not so bad, is it?"

Alice glared down at him. "I could have let go by accident you know," she said darkly. "Then I would have fallen and you'd have felt really bad about it."

Jack rolled his eyes again at the empty threat. He slowly leaned up and this time Alice was able to hold onto him more loosely as he floated upright again. "Even if by some fat chance I managed to drop you, _which I wouldn't_ , I've saved your life once before so I'm sure I could do it again."

Alice glared halfheartedly at the back of his head as he began to fly. "I don't think it would count if you were the one who put my life in danger in the first place."

"Details," Jack waved her off. Then there was silence.

Washington D.C. was only about a state south of Pennsylvania and surprisingly air travel via Jack Frost made the journey rather short. Most of the time Alice found herself mesmerized by all the city lights that twinkled beneath them. Every so often, Jack would increase altitude and fly them through whiffs of clouds. Usually when he did that the clouds below them would conceal the lights which would make her feel incredibly claustrophobic as she couldn't see more than a foot in front of her. She wasn't sure how Jack could see where he was going.

The temperature dropped a good ten degrees up in the sky which made Alice's fingers and nose numb from the cold. She was too distracted by the experience to really be bothered by it, but every now and then she found herself shivering and trembling. And since Jack didn't really emit any body heat, her close proximity to him didn't really matter. Though she was certain he eased the coldness of himself a few times for her sake.

About ten minutes later, Jack nudged her chin that was resting on his shoulder and he pointed downwards. Alice realized Jack was flying lower and she noticed the top of a rectangular building that was growing larger as they neared it. Butterflies erupted in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't believe she was in the Capitol! She then figured most people probably didn't get so excited about a fact like that. Maybe she _was_ a nerd.

Jack quietly landed on the roof and she sighed the minute her feet touched solid ground.

It was fairly quiet save for the honks of car horns off in the distance. Even though it was Thanksgiving, it was also after hours so the building wouldn't have been open anyway.

"How do you suppose we get in?" Alice asked. She felt a little anxious about essentially _breaking in_ to the Thomas Jefferson Building and wondered if it was at all possible but Jack didn't seem worried about it. She considered the notion that she could go to prison for life if she got caught, knowing that even though Jack would be there to fly her away to safety, the building probably had cameras that would catch every angle of her face and sensors that would sound alarms the second she triggered them.

Suddenly this sounded like a sincerely _bad_ idea.

"Jack I don't think we should do this," she suddenly whispered. "What if we get caught? There's no way to break into the Library of Congress. I don't care if Nicolas Cage did it in National Treasure. That movie was riddled with plot holes. No wait, that was the National Archives. The second movie he went to the Library of Congress, right? Even then he got caught anyway, didn't he? Even though the President told him to steal the Book of Secrets that doesn't actually exist. Not that I would try to steal it if it did," she said loudly as if to pacify the make believe government agents that were listening in.

Jack stared at her as if she were crazy. "What are you talking about?"

Alice swallowed. "Nothing. Look, let's just go. I appreciate the sentiment but standing on the roof was enough. I can die happy now."

Jack looked exasperated. "Look, you're not gonna get caught, alright? I have a plan. Just follow me and stick close."

Against her better judgment Alice followed after him. After scouring half of the roof, Jack came across a door. Inevitably it was locked when he tried jiggling the handle which should have been the end of it but after stepping back a few feet, Jack thrust his staff forward and a beam of bright frost emitted from it and effectively froze the handle. Jack tried again and this time the door opened without fault.

Alice stared.

Jack grinned back at her and nodded towards the entrance. "Quick, someone would have seen that."

Alice jogged in without another word and Jack shut the door behind them. Alice paused in the darkness of the stairwell, hearing herself breathing heavily as Jack's footsteps echoed from behind her. Her blood pumped furiously in her ears and she felt a bit faint. Her nose and fingers were beginning to tingle as feeling returned to them.

Jack tapped his staff on the stair behind her and she jumped as the tip of it glowed a soft blue, lighting up the space around them. She glanced up at him warily and he winked at her before pulling something small and shiny out of his hoodie pocket.

"What is that?" she asked. It was silver and coated with a pearlescent opal finish when the light hit it just right. It was oval-shaped and zodiac symbols decorated its face with a small hole in its center. It looked like a small astronomical dial and something one might find in an antique shop. It dangled from a medium-linked chain that was about five inches in length.

"You'll see," Jack murmured. He concentrated on the small object, eyes narrowed before he waved his hand over its front and the center glowed a vivid purple. Alice's eyes widened as she saw the swirling colors, like a small galaxy lived within the object. Suddenly the air around her stilled and the hairs on the back of Alice's neck stood on end. She lifted her head and if it were possible, it sounded even quieter than before. "Check your phone," Jack instructed her softly.

Furrowing her brows, Alice tapped her jean pockets, unable to remember if she brought it or not. She found it in her back pocket and she pressed the home button, lighting up the screen. Her eyes strained at the brightness before it auto-dimmed and adjusted to the lack of light. She didn't see anything besides an alert from Words With Friends and glanced questioningly up at Jack.

"Just watch," he said.

It took her a good minute or two before she realized what was different. The time read 8:19pm. It kept reading 8:19pm. It never changed, even when she was certain more than sixty seconds had passed.

Her mouth opened in shock and she quickly lifted her head to stare at Jack who was grinning proudly. She then eyed the small device in his hand with trepidation as it continued its luminescent gleaming. Was that like Hermione's Time Turner from Prisoner of Azkaban?

"A what from who?" Jack asked, startling her out of her thoughts. She didn't realize she said that out loud.

"Um, it's from Harry Potter," she said, embarrassed.

"Oh," said Jack and he seemed to actually consider her question. She couldn't decide if she should be shocked that he knew what Harry Potter was or not. Then again, he did say he snuck into a lot of movies. "Snuck" being a relative term considering no one was able to see him anyway.

He eventually shrugged it off and pocketed the item before motioning her forward with a knowing smirk. "No one will even know if we sneak in when time is standing still. It'll be like we were never here."

Alice went to step down but quickly stopped herself. "How come you didn't do that before we landed on the roof? Someone might have seen your frost beam freeze the door and somehow think it was me," she accused.

"Okay first of all there are no cameras up there. I was just messing with you before," he stated obviously as if she should know better. "Second of all, no one will be suspicious because there was already frost all over the roof and doors frost over all the time," he told her knowingly. Her shoulders relaxed a bit. "Plus I didn't really think about it until after," he admitted as an afterthought and she gave him an unimpressed look.

The two of them made their way down the stairs with Jack's glowing staff lighting their way. They reached the bottom of the stairwell with another door blocking their path.

"What if they find my fingerprints?" she asked nervously again.

Jack's shoulder bumped into hers as he stepped down next to her. He sighed amusedly. "There are thousands of fingerprints all over _everything_ in this entire building," Jack said.

"Not up here," she countered. "This is probably a restricted area."

"If it makes you feel any better I'll open all the doors for you since I don't have any fingerprints," he told her, only half joking. Alice stepped out of the way as he approached the door and went to turn the handle. Unsurprisingly it didn't budge, but Jack clenched his jaw and squeezed the handle. With a spark of frost, the handle gave way and opened. He pushed the door open and motioned for her to walk through with an over exaggerated bow. She ambled through the threshold and came across a fairly empty hallway. Now the fun began: navigating through the maze of the employee section of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

"Someone may wonder why the handles are covered in ice," Alice commented over her shoulder as she walked down one end of the hallway and contemplated which direction to go. She went with following the signs directing to a new set of stairs. Jack let her lead the way as he followed a few feet behind her, twirling his staff around as he eyed his surroundings with partial interest.

"Doubt it," he said carelessly. "I probably won't have to freeze many more."

She went to open one of the doors leading to another stairwell but thought better of it and stepped aside, waiting for Jack to reach her. He raised a mischievous eyebrow at her before side stepping her and pulling the door open. It wasn't locked.

Alice's eyes trailed upward and she caught sight of a small camera in the corner of the ceiling. "You sure those won't register us on them or anything?" she asked nervously. "Maybe you should frost them over just in case," she felt twitchy again with anxiety.

"I promise they won't," Jack deadpanned. "And I can assure you that someone _would_ wonder why all the cameras are covered in ice."

"Why?" Alice snickered as she made her way down the second set of stairs. It was dark and Jack had to ignite his staff again. "What will they think did it? A freeze ray?"

Jack grinned broadly next to her. "Now who's the skeptical one?" he teased her. He seemed to like that she was loosening up. Or at least trying to.

Though after wandering around the next floor aimlessly without any sign of another staircase and coming across multiple dead ends, Alice was beginning to lose her patience. She seriously underestimated how big the building was. "I'm not even going to get to see the library if we can't find a way to it," she threw her arms up in irritation. "It's probably late, we should head back. This is hopeless."

"Why don't you check the time," Jack said dryly as he took over the lead and started marching back down the way they just came. Alice pursed her lips as she caught sight of an analog clock that was mounted on one of the walls they passed by. It was still 8:19.

It took a good ten minutes (an estimation as she didn't really know) before they found the main floor of the library. There were a few lights on that emitted soft glows, but all of the brighter lights must have been connected to separate breakers that were shut off during the night. Alice's mouth went dry at the vast opening of the dome ceiling that extended so high she could hardly see the top in the dim lighting. Every breath she made echoed in the open air, bouncing off the pillars that supported the massive round room.

She'd never felt so in awe by a place. The scent of paperbound books and fresh text overwhelmed her senses and she eagerly breathed them in with a smile on her face. Jack leaned against the threshold of the door they just walked through with his arms crossed as he watched her with a small smile on his face that she only fleetingly noticed before her attention was drawn elsewhere. There were so many things for her eyes to look at. Books, prints, photographs, music, movies, manuscripts… it was an information overload. She smiled widely and jogged around the second floor of the atrium, scoping out all the sections. She passed the Northeast Pavilion and reached the 'African & Middle Eastern' Reading Room, followed by the 'Waldseemüller Maps' Exhibition room and 'Exploring the Early Americas' Exhibition room.

Jack kept some distance between them to give Alice space but she could almost hear him shaking his head as he asked himself why all of this was so captivating to her. But he also seemed incredibly entertained by her mutterings as she would occasionally whisper-shout, "Fascinating!" to herself as she grabbed a thick book and skimmed through it.

Almost an hour and a half later and you would find Alice resting her head in her hand as she flipped through old transcripts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speeches in the main reading room, her glasses resting on the bridge of her nose as the gentle light of the stained glass lamp ghosted over the text. A few books were scattered to her left and right that she'd already skimmed through.

Jack had been nowhere to be seen for the past half hour or so and she hadn't really paid any mind to where he must have gone. Though suddenly, a clattering of plastic hitting solid ground startled her out of her reading trance and she jumped nearly a foot in the air and had to steady her chair before it toppled over. She quickly turned to face behind her and realized Jack had knocked over a stack of tapes that had been resting on one of the counters just outside the reading room.

It took a while for her eyes to readjust to the darkness and she wiped her eyes thoroughly with her fingers, feeling the tiredness in them. It'd been a while since she read so much in one sitting and clearly her eyes were not used to the strain like they had once been. She rested her head back in her hand again, ignoring the tingling sensation in her wrist from being in the position so long, and Jack approached her from behind.

"This place could really use a skating rink or something," he said as he plopped into the chair next to her.

"I sincerely hope you didn't make one," she uttered blandly as she continued to read despite her eyes' protesting. She was starting to go cross-eyed.

"I resisted the urge," he replied casually, picking up a book she'd discarded and flipping carelessly through the pages. He grew bored after the first handful and sat it back down. He threw his legs up on the table and crossed his ankles as he leaned back and stretched in his seat.

"So where did you get that thing anyways?" Alice asked without looking up from her transcripts. She didn't have to see him to know he tilted his head in question. "The thing that stopped time that you won't tell me the name of," she offered, eyes glancing slyly in his direction.

It elicited something of a half-grin out of the silver-haired boy and he shrugged. "Just a friend," he told her airily.

Alice narrowed her eyes at him. "Mhm. Meaning you took it from someone that definitely _isn't_ your friend," she said eloquently. Jack shrugged innocently.

"Same thing."

"Do you always carry it with you?" she asked, stifling a yawn as she finally gathered the transcripts into a neat stack and returned them to their plastic wrap.

"It comes in handy sometimes, as you've noticed," said Jack. He glanced idly around the large room, blue eyes shimmering in the light of her lamp. His gaze met hers and he gave a small smile. "Are you happy you came here?" he asked. She detected a hint of uncertainty in his usually sure voice, as if he was afraid she didn't appreciate the gesture or magnitude of what he'd done for her. She most definitely hadn't.

"I am," she told him honestly, watching him with a soft smile as he noticeably seemed relieved by her assurance. "Thank you for taking me here," she said before shaking her head. "I honestly never thought I'd ever be able to come here. I've always wanted to but my parents..." she laughed a bit as her eyes followed the intricate markings of the high ceiling. "My parents never really had much of an interest in seeing the Capitol. They never liked who was in Office so they never saw a reason to come here, no matter how much I begged them."

Jack considered her words before removing his legs from the table and resting his elbow on the surface, mirroring her position that she was once in as she read. He watched her for a second, much like he had when he first met her as if she were the most interesting thing he'd ever laid eyes on. "Why did you want to come here so bad?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious. "Most people when asked if they could go anywhere in the world, they say France or Italy or something."

Alice shrugged a little as if it were obvious. "The history," she answered simply. "I like reading about the past. I like learning things. I want to know what our forefathers fought and died for. I want to know about the people that have impacted our country. I want to learn about _other_ countries and their cultures and ways of life. There's so much to learn in this world," she shook her head again as if the sentence itself overwhelmed her. "It's impossible to learn it all. But while I'm here, while I'm alive, I want to try to learn as much as I can because… because, well, why not?"

"Why not," Jack repeated, nodding a bit as if he understood somewhat why she loved it so much. She smiled because she couldn't help but smile as his face appeared so open to her and everything she said to him. He smiled back, eyes roaming her face as if to drink her in. His hair looked almost golden under the light of her lamp and he seemed very content in that moment. Usually he was so energetic and unable to sit still. She liked seeing him calm.

"We should probably get back," Alice said finally, breaking the silence that had surrounded them both as they were left to their own thoughts.

Jack hummed but didn't move as he continued to watch her. She felt slightly self-conscious by his stare but it didn't make her feel uncomfortable. She felt as though, in that moment, something had passed between them. Some sort of comradery that wasn't there before, or not nearly as strong as it had been if it was there. It made her feel peaceful and somewhat reassured that he was there for good. For a reason. That he wanted to be there with her and talk with her, even if it meant just listening to her talk because whatever she said somehow always fascinated him. It made her feel important and wanted, something she hadn't felt in a long time. At least since Max.

Max. She hadn't been away from him for more than a few hours and already she missed him. Like there was a piece of her missing just because he wasn't near her. It made her feel hollow and it was a foreign feeling she was still trying to get used to whenever he wasn't around.

Alice quickly stood from her chair and Jack was quick to follow as if he'd been waiting for her to rise first.

"We really should go," she laughed a little, doing quick work of organizing her jumbled stack of books and Jack helped her put them back in their places before they started making their way back to the upper levels of the building in comfortable silence.

When they finally reached the stairwell leading onto the roof, Alice surprised Jack with a hug. The coolness of his skin startled her only for the briefest of moments before she grew used to the feeling and hugged him tighter, as if to somehow physically convey through the hug how much she appreciated what he'd done for her that night.

Jack was taken aback by the contact for a few seconds before he quickly gained his bearings and returned the hug, rubbing his hands along her back through the fuzzy sweater and leaving icy trails in their wake. His face nudged the side of hers, his cold cheek pressing softly against her own for a moment before she pulled away and smiled at him. His cheeks were slightly rosy and she couldn't tell if it was from her body heat or something else. She'd never seen so much color in his face before. He gave her a lopsided grin in return.

"Thanks again, Jack," she smiled earnestly before opening the door and making her way up the stairs, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as the cold night air became more prominent.

With an unsteady breath, Jack tried flicking his staff to life, only to realize that it had already been lit.

* * *

 **A/N: So fun fact about me. I'm a huge history nerd which is why I made Alice the same way. And if I were asked by someone where I wanted to go if I could go anywhere in the world, the Library of Congress (or just D.C. in general) would definitely be high up on my list.**

 **Thank you for the reviews/favorites this story has gotten since then! I honestly didn't expect any since I know I for sure try to stay away from stories that haven't been updated in more than a month or two. You guys rock. And apparently the story was mentioned in someone's blog? So awesome! Thanks lullabydono! I'm glad you've enjoyed it.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

* * *

"I'm fine," Max protested through his thick comforter. He was wrapped up like a burrito in his blankets and Alice was left to ponder the incredulity of how he managed to move at all with how tightly they were wrapped around his little body.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "There is snot all over your nose which is as red as Rudolph's and you have circles under your eyes. Which are puffy and also red."

"I'm not sick," said Max nasally as he sniffed wetly. Alice grimaced. His eyelids were grey and swollen and his skin was white as a sheet.

She came to wake him up for school a one early Monday morning and was met with miserable grumbles and whines as he stirred sleepily beneath his mountain of blankets. It was slightly disconcerting because Max was usually rather punctual in the mornings for a kid. For some reason he actually enjoyed school which would have shocked Alice but he was such a happy kid in general that it wasn't really all that surprising. He'd made tons of new friends since starting at the new elementary school and he was playing outside every day with Pippa and Co.

Hence the reason he was now sporting a low grade fever and sinus problems.

"You've been outside in the cold every day since we got here," Alice said. "I should have paid more attention to how many layers you had on. Or how often you were outside playing," she frowned as she realized she'd been less than attentive when it came to Max's well-being. She should have known better that he'd come down with a cold if he kept running around in nearly freezing weather.

Max sniffed again, nose both stuffy but also running and his tired glassy eyes met hers with meager indignation before he coughed. Poor little guy looked rough. Alice felt guilt churning in the pit of her stomach. It physically hurt her to see Max uncomfortable. She wanted to climb in bed with him and curl around him, hold him close to her and try to keep him warm and safe. But she was also afraid to jostle him, thinking that it might make him feel worse. She always hated it when people bothered her when she was sick. And after she'd laid the back of her hand on his forehead to check his temperature, she realized his low fever was probably making him feel achy.

Alice then came to the realization that she had no idea how to comfort him. She didn't know how to comfort her own son. How was she going to make it better? What was she supposed to do?

In the year that she had Max, he'd never been sick. She couldn't remember ever seeing him sick. Anne kept him under lock and key whenever he wasn't feeling well, which was understandable, but Alice had a panicking thought. She'd never dealt with a sick child before. She wasn't around Pippa enough to take care of her when she was sick. She only visited them during holidays. She never babysat kids when she was younger for money and she didn't have any siblings to look after.

She had no experience with this.

Alice stood there with her eyes wide for a moment, hand placed over her mouth as she tried sifting through her brain.

"Are you okay?" Max asked her, voice gravely and nasally as ever as he shifted beneath his comforter.

She glanced down at him. "I should be asking you that," she said offhandedly. She wiped a hand down her face. First thing's first. Medicine.

"I'm going to go see if we have any Children's Tylenol. I'll be right back," she ran her fingers through his soft hair before trailing out of his room and into the cold house. She quickly made a detour and turned the heat up a few degrees before continuing on into the kitchen. She couldn't remember which cabinet she put all the medicine in so she opened and closed a few until she came across one with different bottles and boxes of medication.

Anne would have kept some Children's Tylenol that Alice would have taken with her during the move. She skimmed through the cabinet and silently declared 'aha!' when she found the red box. She pulled it out and looked the box over, turning it around in her hands and examining it before glancing at the directions and warning labels. She lifted her head after a moment, realizing that this probably hadn't been used in over a year. Medicine expired, right?

She felt stupid the minute the thought crossed her mind. Of course it did. She eyed the box warily before deciding it wasn't worth the risk and tossed the box in the trash. She'd have to run to the drugstore and buy some more.

Alice made for the hallway to let Max know before quickly stopping herself. She'd never left Max alone before. Not in the house or in their old apartment. She felt panicked again. It would only be for five minutes tops since the nearest drugstore was just a two minute drive away, a minute and a half if she was feeling brave. But it still left her unsettled. She didn't want to leave him alone for _any_ period of time if she could help it but she had a feeling it'd be a little ridiculous if she took him over to Aunt Liza's just so she could make a quick trip to Walgreens. And she certainly couldn't bring him with her because then she'd feel anxious leaving him alone in the car while she ran inside.

There were very few days she felt in control; where she felt like a mother, or the right kind of mother. It happened sometimes and she reveled in those moments, but there were also many times where she was reminded of how little experience she had. She was still new to this. She was still practically a kid herself. The only time she'd ever been on her own was when she moved out with Max. She never had the chance to look after herself before she was given the responsibility of looking after someone else.

She often had to refrain herself from calling her mom and asking her what she did in situations like this. Then she reminded herself that they weren't on good terms. She couldn't just pick up the phone and call because she wasn't sure if her mom was willing to dish out any pointers. Alice was the one who left the state. Inevitably she was the one who severed that tie.

She still had those moments now where she really wanted her mom's advice. To ask her what she should do and to get some reassurance that this was what all parents went through at some point. Except she didn't really feel like a parent. Max was her son by law but not by blood. She expected her maternal instincts to kick in and take over whenever moments like this arose but did she really have maternal instincts? She expected that whenever those instincts would take over, it'd be for her own flesh and blood. But Max wasn't hers. Not really. And she wondered if that was the reason she panicked like this and didn't know what to do. Because she didn't have that deep connection with him that Anne had.

Alice always told herself it didn't matter, that he was still her son no matter what, but sometimes it made her feel inadequate. Like she wasn't enough for him because she wasn't his mother.

With a heavy sigh, Alice shook herself out of her thoughts and made her way back into Max's room where he had apparently buried himself beneath his comforter once again. She gently placed a hand on the lump she assumed was his shoulder and he barely stirred.

"Max," she said softly. "I'm going to run to the store to get some more medicine. I'll be back in a few minutes."

He murmured-slash-grumbled something and she took that as a sign to quickly change and leave before he decided to wake up groggy and disoriented and wonder where she was because he hadn't been listening to a word she said.

On the way to the drugstore she made a few phone calls to have Max excused from school and herself excused from work so she could take care of him. She breathed a sigh of relief when her manager didn't object that she was calling out. She hadn't even been there a month yet and already she was missing a day of work. And a Monday, of all days.

She was in and out in record time. She remained mindful of the icy roads and pulled into the driveway at the nine minute mark. She felt relieved that the front door was still locked and she sighed when she felt the warm air hit her face the second she stepped inside.

As expected (except not because she was paranoid the entire time she was gone, imagining several horrible scenarios of kidnapping and burglary) Max hadn't moved a muscle from within his cocoon. She managed to lure him out for a good thirty seconds to drink the instructed dosage of medicine, to which he cringed and shook his head viciously at the taste before crawling back into his blanket cave. He was out like a light a minute later.

Alice administered water, apple juice and several small bowls of chicken noodle soup throughout the day for Max. She wanted to make sure he stayed hydrated and he constantly whined for apple juice because it was his comfort drink. He didn't have much of an appetite but he nursed the soup in between naps and Alice would reheat it so it could warm him up whenever he was conscious.

She kept a close eye on his temperature. She knew colds typically didn't include fevers and as the day progressed his head started to feel less warm. She figured he may have felt warm because of all the blankets he was bundled up in. She was thankful for that. She didn't know what she'd do if his cold turned into the flu.

He complained a few times about a scratchy throat and she decided to call his school and ask them to excuse him from the following day too just in case.

Later that evening around five when Alice was heating up another bowl of chicken noodle soup and feeling confident about her first day with a sick kid, the doorbell rang. She furrowed her eyebrows.

She made her way towards the front door and wrapped her cardigan tighter across her chest before unlocking it and pulling it open. Besides the icy cold air that bit at her cheeks, she was met with three pairs of eyes. Two pairs were slightly shorter than her. The other was floating in midair.

Pippa grinned brightly. "Hi Alice," she beamed. "Can Max come out and play today?" she asked.

Alice smiled sympathetically at her. "Sorry Pip, Max is sick. He isn't going to be able to play for a while."

Pippa's shoulders dropped and Jamie looked downcast. Jack frowned at her and planted his bare feet on the icy concrete.

"What's wrong with him?" Jack asked, fingers absently playing with his staff.

Jamie turned around, mouth open and ready to say something in response, but Alice answered him without even thinking about it, "He has a cold."

Pippa didn't seem to think anything of it and she nodded sadly but Jamie eyed Alice warily. She hoped he hadn't made the connection that she answered Jack and instead just decided to inform them on her own of Max's condition. She still didn't want word to get out that she could see Jack. It probably wouldn't be that big of a deal, but Jack was very close to Max's heart and she didn't want to risk him feeling threatened if he knew she spent time with his winter spirit.

"Aw," Pippa whined. "I guess that's why he wasn't at the bus stop this morning."

"Yeah," said Jamie. He seemed to have shrugged off his suspicions for the time being. "We thought you just took him to school or something."

The boy absently fiddling with his sled and Alice smiled apologetically. "I'll let him know you guys stopped by though."

"Okay, tell him we hope he feels better," said Pippa, that hundred-watt smile of hers returning. She was such a happy person. It brought a smile to Alice's lips. It was unmistakable that she cared for Max and loved being around him. Like Alice said before, he had everyone wrapped around his finger.

"I will," she smiled as Pippa began to back away from the doorstep. Jamie waved and gave Alice a friendly smile before he nudged Jack in the chest with his shoulder.

"C'mon," said Jamie as he started trudging after Pippa who was bouncing down the sidewalk, kicking snow out of her path as she whistled to herself.

Jack made to follow him but turned at the last second to give Alice a lopsided grin. "Tell the kid I said to take it easy and keep warm," he winked before tapping his staff on the ice and blue snowflakes frosted over the wet ground with a soft glow.

"I will," Alice said without thinking again and this time Jamie jumped as if something startled him and he whipped his head in her direction with his jaw dropped. He quickly slapped Pippa a few times to get her attention without taking his wide eyes off Alice.

"Did you just talk to Jack?" he asked with shock.

"Um," Alice side-eyed Jack who had a ghost of a smirk on his delicate face as if he were having a hard time concealing his amusement. "No…" she said unconvincingly.

Jack chuckled quietly. "Enough of the charade, princess, I think they found us out."

Alice winced as Jamie ran back to her and began bombarding her with questions as Pippa skidded to a stop at the threshold of her door with a look of awe.

"You can see him? _How_ can you see him? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't _you_ tell _me_ , Jack? This is _huge!_ " Jamie had a giant grin on his face as he clenched his fists at the last word as if to emphasize his point. His sled was long forgotten at the end of the sidewalk.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alice held up her hands as if to placate the kid. "One thing at a time. I don't actually know how it happened," she confessed with a hint of chagrin.

Jack scoffed and rolled his eyes playfully. "I saved her life," he informed the kids.

"If you want to be technical," Alice murmured and he winked again as he leaned against the doorframe next to her.

"This is so cool!" said Jamie and he jumped a bit in his spot like his body couldn't contain his excitement. "A grown up has never believed in the Guardians before! And Jack, it's _you_ she believes in," Jamie stressed with big, twinkling eyes as he gazed at the winter spirit meaningfully. Jack exchanged a tender yet significant look with the kid, like he felt touched at the emotion behind Jamie's words, and Alice felt almost as if she were intruding on a private moment between the two. They were obviously very close. "Did you tell North about this?" Jamie then asked.

Jack shrugged halfheartedly. "Nah, the big guy's got a lot on his plate at the moment. Besides, I didn't think it was that important," he said casually.

"But it is," Jamie said pointedly. "If she believes in you, maybe she believes in them, too! She's an _adult_ , Jack."

"Actually," Alice stepped in carefully, raising her hand a bit to get Jamie's attention. "I'm only nineteen. Not much of an adult here," she said lamely.

"You're considered an adult when you turn eighteen," said Jamie all-knowingly. "Someone over seventeen believing in the Guardians is practically _unheard_ of."

"Someone over thirteen is more like it," Jack muttered and Jamie waved his comment off which made the winter spirt look amused again.

"We've gotta tell the others," Pippa finally joined in after the apparent shock had worn off.

"Tell the others what?" a small, groggy voice asked from behind Alice. She quickly turned around and saw Max standing near the hallway with one of his blankets wrapped around him like a cloak. His massive bedhead was probably the cutest thing Alice had ever seen but his watery red eyes and the irritated dry skin around his nose set the anxiety aflutter in Alice's gut.

"Max, you shouldn't be out of bed," she scolded. Max wiped his nose with his sleeve and sniffed again before he smiled tiredly at everyone on the other side of the threshold.

"Hi guys," he greeted softly. His voice was still a bit hoarse but at least he didn't look pale anymore, judging by the rosy red that was flushing his cheeks. Alice felt the urge to check his temperature again.

"She can see Jack!" Jamie exclaimed from behind her. Alice felt a tap on her forehead followed by a spark of coldness that radiated from the spot in her hair and she glanced behind her to see that Jack had his staff raised. He arched an eyebrow at her when their eyes met and she quickly wiped the slight frost that had coated the top of her head.

"Whoa!" said Max, looking and sounding much more alert than he had before. He wrapped his blanket tighter around his shoulders as his eyes flickered from Alice to Jack who seemed to be finding different places to touch her with his staff as if to prove he could indeed touch her. It was fascinating to Max which was probably the reason Jack was doing it (he seemed to find ultimate pleasure in entertaining Max whenever he had the chance) but it didn't stop Alice from swatting him away every time he poked her in the side. Her ribs were sensitive and she did _not_ want him to find that out.

A gust of wind sent a course of shivers up and down Alice's spine. "Okay, we're letting all the cold air in," she announced, waving her arms a bit as if to quickly put the topic to rest. She turned around to bring the conversation to a speedy conclusion but Jamie and Pippa seemed to take her words as an invitation to come in as they brushed past her. Jack marched in after them and closed the door behind himself.

For a second Alice didn't know what to do.

At least it wasn't cold in there anymore. Her bare feet shifted on the wooden floors that felt chilly and wet from being exposed to the elements for so long.

Finally her brain seemed to reconnect its link to her mouth. "Wait, you guys can't be in here. You could get sick," she said, frowning.

"You know," said Jack as he glanced about the area. Everyone completely ignored what she said. Obviously. It briefly occurred to her that he hadn't seen the inside of her house in broad daylight. His blue eyes skimmed over the surface of her decorated walls and vintage furniture. "I haven't been sick in centuries. I don't even remember what it's like anymore. Not that I'm complaining."

Alice's lips curved upward into a half-smirk. "Jack Frost with a cold. How ironic would that be?" a hint of laughter bubbled in the pit of her stomach at the thought. She had a feeling he'd be a very high-maintenance patient. She just pictured him with a beet red nose and piercing, narrowed eyes that'd be glaring at the world as he bundled up in a fort of blankets and complained. The sight almost made her double over in laughter.

Jack shrugged not-modestly. "I'm too awesome for colds," he winked at Jamie who grinned at being the center of Jack's attention if only for the quickest second. Alice mentally shook her head at the effect he had on these kids.

"Can we get back to the part where you can _see_ and _talk_ to Jack Frost?" Max exclaimed before sneezing loudly.

"It's totally weird, right?" said Pippa.

"When did this happen?" asked Max as he grabbed a tissue. She didn't miss that he moved closer to Jack. He leaned into the winter spirit for a second and Jack ruffled the boy's blonde hair affectionately. It didn't seem to bother Max that Jack was emitting waves of cold.

"Jack kind of saved my life," Alice quickly said before Jack could. Max's little eyebrows furrowed as he wiped his nose. Alice sighed in defeat. "Remember when you had to go to the hospital with Aunt Liza because I was in an accident?"

Max's eyes widened. He seemed to mull over this new information before his forehead wrinkled. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked and Alice couldn't miss the underlying hurt in his voice. She felt guilty almost immediately. "I thought you thought I was crazy or something when I talked about Jack. I didn't know you could see him!"

Alice quickly shook her head. "No Max, I have _never_ thought you were crazy," she stressed, stepping forward to kneel in front of him. He sniffed and she was relieved that it was only because his nose was running, not because he was crying. He only seemed a little upset. She smiled softly as she brushed some of the hair off his forehead and ran a finger down his cheek. " _Never_ ," she promised forcefully. "I knew how much you cared about Jack," her eyes briefly flickered up to Jack whose expression didn't give anything away because obviously he knew he meant something to Max. But she could sense that he felt touched just by hearing her say it out loud. Her gaze returned to Max's. "I thought maybe I'd be taking that special bond away from you if you knew I saw him, too. I wanted Jack to be yours because you deserve to have some happiness because," she hesitated and bit her lip. "Just because," she settled with a small smile.

Max smiled a little and rolled his eyes as if to say, 'stop being such a sap,' and Alice grinned. She flicked his nose and he scrunched up his face.

"You really need to meet North," Jamie said suddenly and Alice turned to look at him. He was smiling widely at Max and he glanced at her for a moment. "You too," he said. "He is _so_ cool. He has tattoos and these awesome swords that he fights with," he tilted his head up to give Jack those big, puppy-dog eyes. "Can they meet him? And the others? _Please?_ "

Jack laughed at Jamie's enthusiasm. "Hey kid, Christmas is just around the corner. Who knows," he eyed Max out of the corner of his eye with a sly grin. "Maybe they'll spot him sneaking in presents."

The look on Max's face told Alice that neither one of them would be getting any sleep on Christmas Eve. She couldn't stop the butterflies from flapping wildly in her stomach, though. Santa Claus actually _existed_. And she might even get to meet him someday. Her inner child was doing cartwheels and backflips. She wanted to scream 'take that!' at her dad who accidentally slipped to her when she was nine that Santa wasn't real and ultimately crushed her dreams of magical fairytales and mystical, faraway lands. Alice idly wondered if all the fairytale places were real, too. Wonderland wasn't necessarily a "fairytale" but she couldn't help the burning curiosity if the place actually existed, or at least some place like it. Maybe even the Emerald City in Oz, or Neverland.

Honestly, she just wanted a life that was created by Walt Disney.

"You gotta meet Bunny, too," said Jamie and then he proceeded to describe all of the Guardians in great detail, from their colorful personalities to their distinctive appearances and quirks. It took a few times for it to register in Alice's brain that these were actual, real life beings that Jamie was painting a picture of inside her head. The last time she heard about these guys, they were just characters in a story told by Pippa over a roaring fire. It was hard for Alice to come back from that – she couldn't quite wrap her head around it even now, with Jack Frost standing next to her as he playfully messed with Max behind his back. It was all so hard to grasp that this was her reality now.

"I still can't believe that they're real," she couldn't help but voice her thoughts half an hour later. Max was leaning against her as he listened quietly to Jamie talk (with Pippa occasionally intervening to more accurately describe something about one of the Guardians, much to Jamie's exasperation). Max seemed vaguely tired and about at his limit for the day, but his face had this mesmerized look as Jamie lulled him into a trance with his words. "It completely changes everything and it's kind of confusing. My parents thought they were lying to me about pretending that these guys were real and then they thought they were telling the truth when they admitted they weren't real but as it turns out that wasn't even the truth?"

It gave Alice a headache just thinking about it.

"Grown-ups will never really know the truth," said Jamie as he sniffed, like the grown-ups were beneath them when it came to matters such as this. Alice felt a little proud that she wasn't included in the "evil grown-ups" category anymore.

Max coughed a little which startled Alice out of her thoughts and she gave the boy a once-over with a hint of concern. He definitely needed to get some more rest. "Alright buddy, looks like that's enough excitement for you today," she said, pulling his blanket taut underneath his chin as he gazed at her through half-lidded eyes. At least his nose didn't look as irritated anymore.

Alice stood from where she'd still been kneeling and her legs felt tingly and numb as she stood. Jamie and Pippa, who'd both been sitting across her Indian style, quickly stood up as well. Jack had been resting against the back of the couch next to Max as he listened on with an unreadable look on his face.

Alice smiled at the two kids as they already began to make their way towards the door. Their parents were probably wondering where they ran off to, or their friends. "Thanks for stopping by, I like hearing about the Guardians."

She held open the door for them as they made their way back into the chilly air. Faint laughter was heard off into the distance and Pippa whined, "Aw, they started without us."

Jamie smiled at Alice as he waved at her and Max. "Thanks for listening," he said, all teeth as he grinned at her. She realized this was probably the most Jamie had ever spoken to her. "You coming Jack?" he asked as he peeked back into the house. Alice had forgotten the silver-haired boy was still there.

"In a minute," said Jack, who had taken Alice's place and was kneeling in front of Max as they exchanged their own private words.

With one last wave, Pippa and Jamie scampered down the sidewalk, exclaiming 'race you there!' and 'no fair you got a head start!' as they took off across the street. Alice chuckled a little to herself before turning back to face the boys who were whispering, their faces close together. Again, Alice felt like she was intruding on a scene she didn't belong in. And it felt a lot different this time considering it was with Max.

Alice cleared her throat, feeling a little bad about interrupting but knowing Max really needed to get back in bed, and Jack looked up.

"I don't want Jack to go," Max complained sleepily. Jack gave him a fond look but didn't say anything as Alice sighed.

"You really need to get some more rest, rugrat," she said. "Sleep the rest of the cold off so you can go back to playing outside with your friends."

Max looked like he wanted to protest again – he was a little grouchy when he was tired and ill, apparently – but Jack gave him a not-so-subtle wink before he stood and faced Alice.

"I can go tuck him in," he said casually. "It'll just be a little extra time with him, if that's okay?" Jack asked at the look of slight hesitation on Alice's face.

Max gave her a pleading look through his red-rimmed eyes and she honestly couldn't say no to that face without feeling like the world's biggest super villain. "Well alright," she relented. At Max's dopey smile she couldn't help but smile back. "Just be quick about it," she told Jack with a pointed look and he gave a firm salute in response before he led Jamie down the hall, murmuring excitedly about something she couldn't quite catch.

It didn't take too long. Alice waited around for a few minutes unsure of what she should do with herself before she decided to wash some dishes in the sink from earlier that day to pass the time. The hot water felt nice on her hands and she took a bit longer than usual as she relished in the warmth before she sensed another person in the room and jerked back in time to see Jack walking towards her with a hint of a smile reminiscent of something Max probably said or did.

"Out like a light," Jack grinned before jumping up to sit on the counter beside the sink as she rinsed the final bowl.

"What did you do?" she asked nonchalantly. Max was a pretty obedient kid for his age but that didn't mean he was easily talked into going to bed when he didn't want to.

"Just told him some stories and stuff until he fell asleep," said Jack as he fiddled with one of the clean forks. "Meaning I didn't even get through one story before he passed out on me," he laughed lightly.

"Hmm," she hummed, smiling a little at the image it put in her head. There was a beat of silence between the two as she rinsed out the sink before drying her hands on one of the towels lying off to the side. She kept rubbing her hands on the towel even after they were dry as she stared at Jack in contemplation. It took a moment before he realized he was being watched and he met her gaze curiously, swinging his legs back and forth. "Have you done that before? Told him stories until he fell asleep?"

Jack shrugged a shoulder. "Only once a while back. It was one of his first nights here. He said he couldn't sleep because he didn't like his new room."

Alice wrinkled her eyebrows, the skin on her forehead tight with concern. "He never told me that."

Jack didn't seem bothered. "I think he just wasn't used to it yet. Besides, kids don't tell their parents everything. Especially boys who want to look brave in front of their moms," he gave her a look.

It didn't sit well with her but she knew what he said must've held some weight of truth. She certainly didn't tell her parents how she felt all the time. She couldn't help but feel slightly hurt that he told Jack instead of her though. It was an uneasy feeling she couldn't shake. "I never even realized he didn't like it here at first," she admitted. Wasn't that something she was supposed to know? Max shouldn't even have to tell her that. She hadn't even taken it into consideration.

Jack narrowed his eyes at her before he pushed himself off the counter and landed gracefully in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her closely, "You're not a bad mom. Don't even go there. Stop brooding over nothing," he demanded as if he could hear her thoughts.

She groaned. "But I have to, that's who I am!" she lifted her shoulders halfheartedly. "Sometimes I feel like I miss out on so many things with him. Things I shouldn't have missed at all. Like this morning," she started and Jack leaned his hip against the counter as he dutifully listened with his ankles crossed. "I didn't even know how to comfort him. I'd never even seen him sick before. I had no idea what to do."

"But you figured it out," Jack said without missing a beat. "Looks like everything turned out okay to me."

"It's just… you're better at this than I am it seems. You've even had more experience than I have," she pointed out.

"Actually I've probably only had about the same. You forget that for hundreds of years no one believed in me," he said with an intense look that made her feel uncomfortable and she had to look away. She had forgotten about that and she bit her tongue, feeling inexplicably guilty for bringing up.

"I couldn't even imagine—" she began, only to be quickly interrupted.

"It's in the past," Jack shook his head. "It's something I try _really_ hard not to think about," he chuckled without much emotion. "It sucked. Honestly. But I'm fine now," he told her sincerely and she knew she believed him. There was no way he could feel nothing but happiness with the looks those kids gave him, as if he were a superhero. In a way Alice figured he kind of was to them. That had to have felt nice.

"Glad for that," she said and he grinned crookedly. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she gave him a small smile. "You know, I'm kind of really glad I'm able to get to know you," she admitted.

Jack's eyebrows nearly disappeared beneath his hairline as he raised them, looking slightly taken aback. Her cheeks flushed and she tried to form her jumbled thoughts into words that made sense, "It's just. All our lives, we're led to believe that magical things don't exist. We've just never had a reason to believe in any of them because how could they be real? It sort of takes away the purity that kids have when they believe in these things," she rambled, playing with her fingers as Jack watched her with a faraway look in his eyes. "But I kind of feel like I'm getting some of that back?" she asked with a wince and the boy raised an eyebrow, eyes glistening as watched her and she felt embarrassed for some reason. "I don't know how to explain it, but it makes me feel like things are… easier, I guess. I don't know," she shrugged again. "You just… you give me hope. And that's not something I've had in a long time. So… thank you?" she finished awkwardly before laughing. "I don't really know where I was going with that."

Jack had this tiny, sort of amazed looking smile on his face as he drank in her words. It seemed like the right thing to say and maybe something he needed to hear. He'd been so kind and helpful to her that she felt like she needed to return the favor. There was this spark in her chest, this skip in her step, that hadn't been there in years. She believed in magic again, could feel it in the air, and it was invigorating. And it was all because of him.

Maybe she could give him a little bit of hope as well.

"I guess you're glad I saved your life then, huh?" he asked a bit breathlessly, as if she'd just opened his eyes to something new. Like he was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that she just _existed_ and believed in _him_ and, of all things, was thanking _him_ instead of the other way around. In a way, it was kind of the exact same way she felt about him.

"I realize I never actually thanked you for that," Alice said. Jack opened his mouth to respond but she hurriedly said, "Thank you. Really. I'm… grateful you were there that day. I don't think I'd be here right now if you weren't."

Jack nudged her with his foot and raised that eyebrow again. "Glad for that," he repeated what she said earlier with a glint in his eyes.

She shook her head and laughed.

Maybe they both gave each other a little hope that day.

* * *

 **A/N: Gah! I feel like this chapter is really short even though it's totally not? It's like 6k words haha. I guess it could kind of be considered a filler chapter again but the content needed to happen. And I also wanted to thank you guys for being so understanding about the wait. It means a lot that you're still reviewing and favoriting.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

* * *

"Okay got it, push!"

With a war cry, Alice gave a forceful tug and the tree was able to slip through the threshold of the door with only minor branch casualties. She wasn't too torn up about the ones that broke off because one of the small branches managed to slice through her glove and scratch her.

Her boots were nearly soaking from the melted ice that littered her front porch and as she directed them which way to go, the boots squeaked on the wooden floors and left glimmering wet footprints in their wake.

She paused when they reached the living room, surprised that she actually felt hot in the nearly freezing weather, and pointed towards the empty space she cleared for the tree. "Right here is fine. Thanks, Derek."

The two of them lifted the fresh tree right side up and put it into place before the aforementioned Derek began to untie the bungees he wrapped around it. He glanced up at the tree top as he tossed the bungees aside for the time being and helped readjust the branches. Little pine needles sprinkled onto the carpet and Alice loathed thinking about vacuuming them up. She'd definitely be finding them around the house for the next two months.

"Pretty risky buying an eight foot tree," Derek commented as he took a step back to admire the placement.

Alice shrugged with a half grin. "Good thing we've got nine foot ceilings."

He grinned back but pointed his gloved hand towards the upper half of the tree. "You won't have much room for a topper unless you get a small star or something."

Alice brushed herself off and rubbed her gloves together before shrugging. "We'll figure it out. The important thing is that we actually have a tree to decorate."

"And only a week and a half before Christmas too," Derek smirked and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. He admired the tree again. "I'm surprised you were able to find one. They're usually sold out by now."

"I guess it was just meant to be," she said proudly.

Derek was a co-worker she almost always shared a shift with. He was a part-time teller and part-time trainer for the bank and he helped train her on their computer systems, not that they were all that complicated. He was a nice guy who constantly brought in hot chocolate and shared some with whoever happened to be working that day. Which was very lucky for Alice, though she had a feeling he was really turning her into a hot cocoa addict. He put nutmeg and vanilla powder on top which she had no idea she liked until he convinced her to try it.

He rubbed his jaw absently before heading towards the front door with his bungee cords in hand. He had a five o'clock shadow and midnight black hair that shimmered blue in natural light. Alice had a feeling he was a couple of years older than her but she couldn't really tell and she didn't feel comfortable enough to ask. He had big green eyes that reminded her of a friend's back home except his were slightly more washed out, though the familiar twinkle was still present within them.

He was a nice guy, as she said before. He was a nice guy and he was also quite nice to look at.

"Thanks for letting me use your truck," she told him appreciatively as they made their way down the driveway she attempted to shovel earlier that morning. Technically she hadn't used the truck herself since he was the one who drove it but he smiled at her anyway as he tossed the bungees into the bed of the truck. It was shiny and blue and looked fairly new.

"No problem. As entertaining as it would be to watch you try and stuff an eight foot tree inside that tiny little car, I figured I'd spare you. 'Tis the season and all."

Alice laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha," she deadpanned.

He leaned against the passenger door with his arms crossed and a hint of a smirk was ghosting his lips.

"Well," he exhaled and it sounded like it could either be construed as the start of a goodbye speech or an offer to begin a new conversation. And Alice couldn't tell which direction he wanted it go. She figured he was probably leaving it up to her to decide which most people who knew her should know that's never a good idea.

"So thanks again," she said, nerves coiling in her stomach almost painfully. It came out louder than she intended and she had to forcefully refrain herself from wincing at how awkward she'd become around guys. She didn't need to be reminded of her social ineptness thank you very much. "I literally couldn't have done it without you. Well, I _could've_ … I could've maybe strapped it to the top of my car but I'm not very good at securing stuff like that so it probably would've ruined the tree and the tree costs more than my car so…" she trailed off lamely. It was a bit of an exaggeration but not too much of a stretch.

Derek's smirk widened at her ramblings. "Well I guess it's only fair since the tree is slightly bigger than your car."

She narrowed her eyes at him and he laughed outright.

"Okay, I guess that's my queue to leave," he announced, not unkindly. He tapped the side of his truck like almost all truck drivers seemed to do before he started making his way around to the driver's side. He gave her a friendly wink. "I'll see you later, Alice."

She stepped back and waved as he revved the engine. He waved back before he pulled out onto the road and made his way down the neighborhood. She watched him go with her arms crossed over her chest and a wistful smile on her face.

Later that evening Aunt Liza and Pippa were over to help decorate the tree and put lights and garland around the house while Uncle Kevin worked late. Alice lit a few apple-pie scented candles which both made her hungry and also made her wish she knew how to bake something that wasn't already premade and frozen.

Max was more interested in Alice's old game boy (that somehow still worked) than he was in decorating, but he helped wrap the lights around the tree with as much enthusiasm as a seven year old boy could muster when dealing with glittery lights. His nose was still a little runny but he'd suffered through the cold for nine days now so it'd about ran its course.

Aunt Liza brought over some gingerbread cookies that everyone snacked on while they stuck to their specific areas of the house they felt the need to make festive. Pippa had some tinsel wrapped around her neck like a scarf as she went between taping lights to the fireplace and taping lights to Alice who kept throwing more tinsel at her.

"How did you manage to get this tree over here?" Aunt Liza asked as she finished hanging ornaments. "It's almost bigger than ours."

"This guy Derek helped me pick it up and bring it over," Alice said, pulling some stockings out of an old storage box that she planned on writing hers and Max's names on. One was velvet red and had an intricate stitching of Santa and his reindeer while the other was blue and sparkled white with a snowman.

Aunt Liza made a surprised sound in the back of her throat, interest piqued.

"Who's Derek?" Pippa asked loudly.

Alice flicked more tinsel at the girl. "A friend from work."

"And is this a… 'special' kind of friend from work?" Aunt Liza asked without even trying to be suave or elusive. She temporarily retired from tree-decorating to dip some of her cookies in milk as she watched Alice with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

Alice made an exasperated noise. "This isn't an interrogation, is it?" she practically whined. "He is _just_ a friend from work who happened to own a truck that I found to be useful in this particular endeavor. Nothing more."

"Mhm," Aunt Liza hummed disbelievingly. Alice pursed her lips. Her mother had never hassled her about boys. It just wasn't in the nature of their relationship. Sure, she would tease her mercilessly whenever Alice had a boy over but that was about as far as it would go. It seemed to be Aunt Liza's duty as an aunt to be that person who embarrassed her around the clock because she knew Alice didn't have anyone else in her life to do it.

"When was the last time you had a boyfriend?" Aunt Liza asked. Alice gave her a withering look. The woman raised her hands defensively. "No ulterior motive. Just asking. As a meager third party observer."

Alice shook her head with a tiny smile. She shrugged a shoulder feebly and went back to sifting through the box of decorations. "I don't know. Two years I guess, the first half of senior year. We weren't together very long," she left it at that.

Aunt Liza sensed she didn't want to expand on it so she didn't push the subject. "You ever thought about going out with someone? For coffee or something?"

The question was innocent enough but it made Alice narrow her eyes a little at her aunt. She made her way over to the counter the woman was leaning against and filled her own glass of milk to eat her cookies with.

After swallowing the first bite, Alice asked, "How would I have time to do that? When I'm not working I'm with Max. When I'm not with Max, I'm working."

Aunt Liza wiped the crumbs off her shirt. "It may not seem like it now, but one day you'll be able to make time," the older woman tilted her head at Alice and she could sense a serious talk coming.

Alice was grateful that Pippa and Max were otherwise occupied to where they couldn't hear it.

"I know that you're still trying to figure stuff out. With Max and all," Aunt Liza said sincerely. "It'll take time, but you also have to take your own personal needs into consideration. You need a private life, Alice," her tone weighed heavy on the air and Alice glanced down at the cookie in her hand absently as she listened. "It's not healthy to only dwell on Max's happiness. I'm glad that you're focused on it, believe me I am and it deserves to be a priority, but if you don't have your own happiness too, life is going to seem very dark and before you know it it'll just fly by and you'll feel like you missed out on all the big things."

Alice bit the inside of her cheek. "What if Max is my happiness?" she asked quietly. "What if he's all I need?"

Aunt Liza smiled a genuine, tender smile. "For a while he will be. But you'll soon find out that you have room in your heart for one more person that can make you as equally happy, just in a different way."

Alice pondered her aunt's words, understanding them to be true. It made sense when it was explained to her in that way, but when she thought about love and what it encompassed, it seemed like this faraway thing she'd never be able to reach.

Love was a complicated emotion she wasn't sure she understood anyway. She'd never been in love with someone before and she didn't know what it meant or felt like to love someone unconditionally. She loved her parents and she loved Max and everyone in her family, but that was a different kind of love. It was a love that she didn't have to give herself to. It was a love that was as easy as breathing in the air on a warm summer day. It wasn't something she had to question or rely on or even try to think about because it was just there. It was a part of her.

She didn't know how to love someone any differently. She didn't understand what it meant to trust someone with her heart, if that's really what love entailed. She couldn't imagine putting that much faith into another human being. Maybe that was the cynic in her talking, or the fact that she had such a small group of people in her own little circle of trust.

Alice knew comparing past relationships was no way to look for one in the future that would hopefully last. Not that she necessarily had any bad experiences, but most of them had felt strained and false. A means to an end. Whenever she dated someone, she mostly felt like she did it because it was something everyone else did so naturally she had to do it, too. Not that she lacked intimacy or anything because she _was_ human. It felt nice to have someone to talk to in the middle of the night or someone who could wrap their arms around her when she was feeling sad.

But that's all it was. Nice. There were no deep feelings. It didn't go past face value. Sure, she maybe had a crush on a guy because he gave her a smile on the first day of English or because he didn't say much at all and it made him dark and mysterious. Alice figured those relationships you had in high school were important because they prepared you for the real thing. And in most cases, they taught you what _not_ to do. But she was scared of actually trying the real thing out. Part of her didn't want to become dependent on someone else. Not while she already had a kid that was dependent on her.

Besides, she was still a kid herself, wasn't she? She was still learning how to live on her own and do her own taxes and attend parent-teacher conferences. She was still trying to grasp the complexity of her emotions and how she felt inside her own skin.

How could she love someone if she didn't even know how to love herself?

"You have plenty of time," her aunt's voice disentangled her thoughts. Alice blinked out of her stupor, eyes glazed over, and glanced at the woman who gave her a relaxed smile. "You're only nineteen after all. But it's just something to think about it."

Alice smiled a little in silent thanks. She doubted she'd actually think about it at all.

"So," Aunt Liza's cunning smirk returned and Alice felt wary again. "What kind of things do you like about a boy?" she asked, ever the gossiping teenager trapped in a thirty-seven year old woman's body. "What's your type?" she took a bite of a cookie with a cheesy grin.

Alice snickered. "Tall, dark and handsome," she answered with a grin.

"And is Mister Derek tall, dark or handsome?"

She rolled her eyes. She couldn't help but love that woman. "A bit of all three," she said. He kind of was.

After all the decorations were hung and organized, Aunt Liza left in a hurry to make dinner for Uncle Kevin as he was on his way home and though Pippa begged to stay a little longer, Aunt Liza commanded her daughter home to help with the meal much to the girl's displeasure. Max had been too engrossed in his game of Scooby Doo to really be too upset over their departure.

"So I was thinking we could decorate these stockings with our names and stuff," said Alice. She arranged some old glitter and material glue that she found tucked away in a box full of old coloring books and markers that she wasn't sure were her old things or Max's, and she secretly hoped the glue hadn't dried out yet. She put the two stockings on display as Max walked up to the counter curiously. "Pick one."

Max immediately snatched up the blue stocking and Alice wasn't even a little surprised. "Okay so I have some silver glue, gold glue and all different kinds of glitters. Just sprinkle the glitter on the glue before it dries and go nuts."

"Okay!"

The two of them sat in silence for a good twenty minutes decorating their stockings. Max clearly already had a theme established for his as he added some silver glue and white glitter to make more snow underneath the snowman. Held in the snowman's stick-arm was another stick that was modeled into the shape of a question mark – Max's doing. He drew a few snowflakes wherever he could find empty spaces before writing his name in capital letters at the top of the stocking.

Alice had her name written in the best cursive she could muster and peppered some gold glitter over the glue. She added a single snowflake in the upper corner of her stocking because it only seemed fitting and sprinkled a pinch of blue glitter to accent it.

"All done?"

When Max nodded and admired his handiwork, the two draped their stockings over the sink and shook out the excess glitter before hanging them over the fireplace to dry. They took a step back and admired the view. Alice had a proud smile on her face and Max seemed satisfied only for a moment before he began the search for his game boy again.

Alice rested her hands on her hips. She liked seeing their names next to each other on the stockings. It made it feel even homier, like it belonged to them and only them. "That'll do," she said quietly with a content smile.

* * *

That weekend Max was able to get back outside and play. The weather had dropped a few degrees as Burgess welcomed the end of the year. Alice made sure he dressed in about three layers of clothes to be safe. She would have been happy with a fourth layer but Max scowled at her when she tried coaxing another jacket on him, claiming that he looked like a marshmallow. But he was bundled up well, so much so that whenever he came inside he started to sweat. Alice felt satisfied.

Grocery stores and clothing shops were playing all different kinds of Christmas music. Fortune and good cheer seemed to spread like wildfire around the town and as the holiday neared, more and more people started to crowd the streets of every shopping center to cross items off their Christmas lists.

Max was upset that he hadn't seen Jack in a while. Alice had to constantly reassure him that this was the winter spirit's season which meant snow was in high demand and he was a busy guy. Obviously Jack had made some sort of an impact on the town because the weatherman was always going on about how there was less snow than they expected for this year. It was still going to be a white Christmas but they weren't going to be up to their ears in snow which was an oddity for Burgess apparently. Alice idly wondered if Jack had superiors to report to that were berating him for depriving the rest of the world of their snow storms and blizzards or if he was his own boss and made his own decisions on which city to hit next.

Either way, it seemed like Jack was making up for lost time as the news occasionally reported random blizzards in other states leaving their residents to shovel five inches of snow out of their driveways and closing the schools until the roads were safe for travel. The kids in Burgess seemed sour that they still had class. The town had practically set a Guinness world record for snow days.

Alice watched from the kitchen as Max and Pippa had a snowball fight in their backyard. The house smelled chocolate-sweet and fruity as Alice made her mother's famous white chocolate cranberry blondies. She about had the recipe mastered and was finally able to make them on her own without digging through her books for the step-by-step directions.

She quickly rinsed her hands off in the sink before sticking the pan in the oven for the blondies to bake. She set a timer and untied her apron to drape it over the stool across from her before putting away the ingredients and wiping down the counters.

There was a shriek of laughter outside followed by loud chatter and Alice quickly looked up just in time to see Jack pelting Max and Pippa with glowing blue snowballs. Max quickly wiped his face clean of the chunks of snow before he started chasing after Jack who taunted him, telling him he better run faster if he watched to catch him. Alice grabbed her coat off the hanger near the backdoor and threw it on as she watched Pippa sneak up behind the winter spirit who was too distracted by Max to notice her.

Pippa thrust her palm forward that was full of snow and stuffed the white fluff into Jack's hoodie. Jack quickly jerked around, snow flinging out of his hood as he spun, and Pippa became his new target. She laughed, tossing her head back, as Jack glared at her before his scowl transformed into an evil smirk and Pippa's laughter was cut short. Her eyes widened before she yelped as Jack reached forward to grab her and a new chase was on.

Alice pulled open the backdoor, huffing as she tried pushing it closed behind her and her breath fogged up her glasses. It hadn't been nearly as cold before Jack showed up.

"Any last words, Pip?" Jack threatened playfully. Pippa's back was to Alice but she could've sworn the girl tensed up as a ball of snow formed in the palm of Jack's open hand. He grinned at Pippa's nervousness. "What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"

Pippa quickly shook her head and made to run a different way. Jack didn't even need to take aim. He pulled his arm back and threw the snowball at her. She slipped in the snow as she tried getting away and she fell at the very last second. The snowball whizzed by her head, just barely grazing her fuzzy hat, and Alice didn't even have the chance to blink before her face was pelted with something very cold and very wet.

There was a new wave of laughter as Alice stood frozen in her spot, shocked still as she asked herself if that really just happened. Chunks of snow splattered against her coat as they trailed down her face and she quickly wiped the remaining snow off, feeling her nose and cheeks turn numb. Her glasses were crooked on her nose, one side partially hanging off her ear and Jack snorted in the back of his throat before clutching his stomach as he cackled at the look on her face.

Alice slowly pulled her glasses off and sat them on the nearest table. Even though the world around her became very fuzzy and distorted, she was ninety percent sure her eyes were set on Jack. With narrowed eyes, she bent down to grab a handful of ice and mushed it together to form a perfectly round snowball. The laughter stopped and Max and Pippa _ooh'd_ in anticipation.

"Catch you off guard there, Chaplin?" Jack mocked, not sounding the least bit concerned. Alice found herself grinning inwardly because this winter spirit had certainly never had a real snowball fight until he had one with her.

"You better run," Max warned with glee before Alice broke out into a sprint, aiming for the blue and white blob that waved its arms around in a 'come get me' gesture before dodging out of her way. She turned to face the direction he took off in and she prepared a quick aim before throwing the snowball with all her might. She heard a satisfying _splat_ as the snow smacked the silver-haired boy in the cheek.

She didn't have to see him very well to know that he was smirking again. "Oh, it's on."

Not a minute later, snowballs were being flung back and forth through the air. Max and Pippa went between cheering on Alice or Jack and joining in the fight as they took sides. It eventually evened out to boys versus girls and Pippa hid behind a column on the porch, firing whenever someone ran past her while Alice threw herself in the thick of it head first because she had nothing to lose.

By the end of it Alice's hands were nearly frozen stiff since she forgot to put her gloves on. She was lying in the snow between Jack and Pippa, breathing heavily and somehow ignoring the cold that was soaking in through her coat and jeans underneath her. Her hair had fallen out of her ponytail ages ago and her wild red curls fell into her face as she slowly sat up. Jack was leaning back against his elbows, looking casually pleased.

"How's that for a snowball fight?" Alice smirked proudly, brushing invisible dirt off her shoulders in victory.

Jack rolled his eyes in a devil-may-care sort of way. "Okay so I'll hand it to you. That was pretty good. I could have beaten you but you'd probably call it cheating."

Alice pointed accusingly at him. "So you admit you can't beat me unless you cheat."

"I didn't say _that_ ," he squinted.

Alice narrowed her eyes at him and he stuck his tongue out at her.

"So when did you get back?" Max asked him as he rested on his knees in front of Jack.

Jack sat up a bit and grinned at the boy. "About an hour ago," he said. "I stopped by Jamie's first."

Max looked a little torn that he hadn't been Jack's number one priority but he didn't comment on it.

"Yeah, you've been MIA for a few days," said Alice. She leaned back on her arms. Their knees touched as she bent hers to sit Indian style and tried to ignore how cold she felt, both from the snow she was sitting on and the boy she was sitting next to.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Miss me, princess?"

"Deeply."

He laughed. "I had some stuff to do, if you're so curious."

"I saw the havoc you wreaked on New Jersey," Alice said, shaking her head. "Those poor, innocent people."

"You flatter me," he put a hand to his chest in mock sincerity. He thrust his arms behind himself and leaned back to rest his weight on them, mirroring her position, and crossed one of his legs over the other as he relaxed, seemingly comfortable in his element. Alice was momentarily distracted by something slipping out of his hoodie pocket and she perked up a bit. It sparkled in the faint sunlight and Alice squinted at the object's familiarity.

"Is that that time turner thing?" she asked, gesturing towards it. Jack glanced down at his stomach and pushed the little device further inside his pocket and out of sight. "Are you even supposed to have that?" she asked, only half-joking. The curiosity was eating away at her as he never actually ended up telling her what that was all about.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he side-eyed her with a boyish grin.

"What would you do if I said yes?"

"I'd tell you that someone _did_ tell me to _not_ take it," he informed her with a raised eyebrow.

She waited. "And?"

"And I didn't exactly follow those orders," Jack told her, smirk widening a bit as she gave him a bland look. It's not that it was a secret Jack didn't follow the rules, but Alice didn't know if there were higher powers out there that could punish him for doing something he wasn't supposed to.

It was hard for her to imagine him having a life outside of Burgess, though rationality dictated that he had some sort of personal life they didn't know about. Like… Guardian stuff. She didn't know what it was he did in his free time besides create snow storms and invoke happiness in children all across the globe. Which, that in itself sounded like a big task she didn't know how he managed to have time for. It was probably none of her business what Jack did in his spare time. But she still felt wary. What if someone found out what he did when he took her to the Library of Congress? Would he get in trouble for that?

Jack bumped shoulders with her when her face gave away her thoughts. "Don't worry about it," he said to her. Their shoulders continually brushed against one another after that but she wasn't necessarily opposed to the contact. He gave her a winning smile and she smiled back because it was hard not to. If he wasn't worried then she wasn't going to be either.

"So," he announced loudly and Max and Pippa looked at him. "Who's looking forward to Christmas? It's right around the corner," he sang and the two grinned like Cheshire cats.

"Is Santa going to come by?" Max asked. He couldn't suppress how jittery the thought made him.

"Why wouldn't he?" Jack grinned crookedly. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "I heard he's getting the sleigh ready. Do you know how fast that thing is?" Max shook his head with a wonderstruck look on his face. "It's the reason he's able to deliver all the presents on time."

"Jamie told me about how North crashed the sleigh in front of his house!" Pippa said, building up a pile of snow before smacking it down. "He said it sounded like a motorcycle."

"Does it?" Alice raised her eyebrows. Max flicked snow at Pippa because some of the snow from her pile hit him in the head.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad ass," Jack murmured to her, quiet enough to where the kids couldn't hear him, before he smiled in their direction as if he hadn't said a word and she choked back a laugh. He glanced at her and gave her a quick wink, blue eyes glowing with mirth.

"Who's ready for another snowball fight?" Pippa demanded. As it turns out she was making a nice pile of ammunition instead of actually building something in the snow like Alice had thought.

Alice glanced at Jack out of her peripherals and he gave her a knowing look. He then suddenly gripped Alice's arm tight and jerked her upright with him like it was an effortless thing to do. She wobbled slightly and grabbed onto him for support, feeling dizzy at being so suddenly upright.

Jack helped steady her only for a second before he took off with his cold hand wrapped around her wrist and she struggled to keep her footing as she ran after him. "You'll have to catch us first!"

* * *

" _Have yourself a merry little Christmas,_

 _Let your heart be light._

 _From now on your troubles will be out of sight…"_

* * *

 **Christmas Eve**

Lights twinkled blue and pink and red along the branches of the small douglas fir tree. A soft glow emitted from the lit fireplace as the embers burned and crackled on their hearth. Two figures were curled up on the loveseat resting before the flames that warmed them as whispers of Christmas music echoed faintly in the distance of one of the rooms in the house.

Max was tightly wound up in a soft red blanket, mouth open wide and sound asleep, with Alice coiled around him. Her head was perched precariously on her hand that was resting on the arm of the loveseat, head ever so slowly tipping forward as she fell in and out of consciousness. It was close to midnight and the two had tried their hardest to stay awake so they could sneak a peek at 'Nicholas St. North', but the minute they sat down at a quarter 'til eleven they started dosing.

Alice hadn't stayed up past ten thirty in who knows how long. It took a lot out of her to watch and play with Max and she wasn't in the best shape to begin with. You couldn't ask her to run down the block and back without wheezing and gasping for air. She blamed the school system and their ignorance when it came to gym classes. She was only required a gym course her freshman year. The rest were voluntary. Of course she wasn't going to take a class that wasn't _mandatory_. And now look where she was. Unable to run for more than thirty seconds at a time.

Max was in good shape though and had plenty of energy for the both of them. He was seven years old for crying out loud. So she didn't know what his excuse was. He fell asleep before she did. And he had been so adamant about staying up _all night long_.

Alice was startled for the third time as her face made its final slip off her hand. She quickly jerked her head up, the sensation of falling making her stomach drop uneasily, and she blinked herself awake. The lights were fuzzy little blobs of color in her vision and she wiped her eyes to chase away the sleep. Wiping a hand down her face, she glanced at Max who was breathing deeply and snoring softly with his face smashed against the arm of the loveseat.

With a tired smile, Alice wiped the white-blonde hair out of the boy's face before her eyes searched for a clock. 11:56pm.

Careful not to wake him, Alice slowly disentangled herself from around him and pulled herself over his sleeping form. She jostled him a bit as she stood but he only stirred for a second before the soft snores continued. She licked her lips and tiptoed out of the living room to her bedroom where she opened her closet door and dug two elegantly wrapped presents out from underneath a pile of clothes.

She silently made her way back into the room following the sounds of Max's snores and she knelt before the Christmas tree to place the presents underneath it. It wasn't that she didn't believe Jack or Jamie when they said Santa existed. It's not that she was skeptical he paid a visit to _every_ house. She wasn't. But just in case if something _were_ to happen and he didn't show up, she wanted to be sure that Max had some gifts to wake up to. He'd be so downcast that he hadn't seen Santa – or 'North' rather – that Alice would just tell him they slept through his arrival.

Besides, there was nothing like a new Xbox and Batman sheets to cheer a kid up on Christmas morning.

After making sure that Max was still out like a light, she ambled into the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of water. It was chilly and the flames were dim on the wooden logs in the fireplace. She rubbed her hands along her arms in hopes of warming herself up. She had a pair of fuzzy slippers on and thick pajama pants to match so there wasn't much else she could do.

She leaned against the counter as she sipped idly on her water. Snowflakes were calmly floating in the air outside, seemingly not in a rush to reach the pearly white fluff that coated the ground beneath them. The moon was glowing brightly, illuminating the kitchen with a soft blue glow and Alice reveled in the serenity of the moment before a loud thump caused her to nearly drop the glass in her hand.

She glanced up out of instinct, almost certain that the noise had come from the attic. Or the roof, rather.

It took her a good ten seconds to register what the sound could have been and when she did she almost dropped her glass again.

She quickly sat the half-empty water on the counter, facing Max to see if the sound had woken him at all. It hadn't.

Alice unconsciously turned towards the fireplace. A hint of smoke was pillowing from inside the hearth, signaling that the last remaining flames had burnt out. She could smell the fresh scent of firewood as it filled the house and she waited with baited breath. Tilting her head, she listened carefully for anymore sounds. Besides Max's quiet snores and her heavy breathing, she couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. She furrowed her eyebrows.

 _I know I heard something,_ she thought.

She checked the time. It was twelve o'clock on the dot.

"Hm," she cautiously returned to sipping on her water.

She made to finish the rest in a big gulp but some of it accidentally spilled. She quickly wiped her chin and eyed the area around her feet, seeing a few wet spots glimmering in the moonlight. She reached out to grab a towel hanging on one of the cabinets and crouched down to wipe it up before it soaked through her slippers.

As she was beginning to pull herself back up, there was a rustling of fabric a few feet away and the second her head lifted over the counter, she caught sight of a large, burly figure dressed in red with its back to her. She gasped quietly, nearly hitting her forehead on the edge of the counter as she jerked back down into a crouch. She eyed the figure over the edge of the counter with a look of wary disbelief. There was an unmistakable head of snowy white hair spilling out of a fuzzy black hat that rested on top of his head.

Alice stared, wide eyes catching the black fleece along the edges of the cloak he was wearing. His back was firm and taught, more so with muscle than fat, as he rifled through a round, full sack. A red sack.

Her jaw would have dropped if it hadn't already been hanging open. She didn't know what to think. Her mind seemed to have drawn a blank and all she could hear was white noise, like static, as her brain malfunctioned. This was him. It had to be him. Nicholas St. North. The Guardian. _Santa Claus_.

"I don't believe it," she whispered even though she clearly did. Suddenly, a soft yellow glow emitted from the palm of Santa's— _North's_ —hand and the stack of presents under the tree sparkled and twinkled gold, on display and ready to be grabbed by a child's eager hands. The man—North—stood straight and proud as he admired his own handiwork for a moment before turning to smile at Max who continued to sleep peacefully on the loveseat. Alice caught sight of his round, rosy red cheeks and bushy salt and pepper eyebrows. She gripped the corner of the counter tightly, feeling too many emotions for her body to focus on one.

North turned, looking ready to move on to his next destination, and Alice found herself jumping up and nearly tripping over her own two feet as she did so. She wasn't quite sure why, but she just couldn't let him get away. Not yet.

The clatter of her catching herself on the kitchen counter must have alerted North because he jumped a bit at the sound and quickly turned on his heels. Alice winced as her hip collided with the corner of the counter and a sharp pain stung her side. Her mouth was open in silent pain but it quickly morphed into shock as her eyes carefully met his.

For a good ten seconds the two of them just stood there staring at each other.

Alice's grip on the counter tightened a bit and her shoulders tensed before she subtly rubbed the sore spot on her hip that would no doubt be an ugly bruise in a couple of hours.

"I—Uh…" she stuttered. She felt like a kid who'd just been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Well this is new," said North in a thick Russian accent. Santa was Russian. That was unexpected.

"Hi," she said in a small voice. She carefully made her way around the counter and wiped her hands nervously on her pajamas.

North eyed her from head to toe and she could practically hear him estimating her age in his head. His eyes crinkled as he gazed at her. "Are you a believer?" he asked quietly, as if he couldn't quite believe it himself.

"Um," she fidgeted. "I guess you could say that."

He had an overwhelming presence. His demeanor seemed to command the room and as her gaze continued to meet his, she felt something swell in her chest. It was probably the most cliché thing to ever happen to her but she felt very calm and at ease, like there was a lightness to her that she never felt before, and she had no doubt North was the reason for it. He was the epitome of Christmas and all the joy and happiness that came with it and she was practically being slapped in the face with more joy and happiness than she had in years.

"I have never seen such an old believer before," he squinted at her in something akin to confusion, though his cheeks were just as bubbly and flushed as ever, and she inwardly laughed at his idea of 'old'. "How do you know of me?" he asked her, sounding genuinely curious but she couldn't overlook the underlying hint of suspicion in his tone.

The sack he had with him sparkled and glimmered to life at his feet before vanishing out of thin air in a puff of red smoke and she was momentarily distracted by the empty spot it once occupied. North didn't seem concerned, like it was an ordinary thing that always happened, and she assumed the sack disappeared because he wanted it to. Which was an overwhelming thought all on its own but Alice tried not to dwell on it.

"Um, besides children's stories?" she asked meekly before swallowing her nerves. She never imagined that meeting Santa Claus would leave her starstruck but there was a first time for everything apparently. "Jack," she said, as if that were answer enough.

"Jack?" North's bushy eyebrows furrowed in confusion before his blue eyes nearly ignited in recognition. "Jack _Frost?_ " he clarified and she nodded. He narrowed his eyes before demanding, "What did he do?"

"Oh," she said, startled. She shouldn't have been too surprised. She already assumed that Jack had a reputation for doing things he shouldn't. "Nothing. He didn't do anything. Bad, anyway," she wringed her fingers together. "He kind of… saved my life?" North seemed visibly shocked by that and she quickly shook her head. "It's a long story but the Spark Notes version is I believed in him because he saved my life and in return he's told me all about you guys – The Guardians – and, well, it's kind of hard for me to _not_ believe in you after seeing him with my own eyes."

North appeared to mull over her words before something deeply concerned him. "What is Spark Notes?" he asked.

"It's…" she paused before huffing a laugh through her nose and shaking her head slightly. "It's not important," she said, smiling slightly because she just couldn't help herself. North brushed some imaginary dirt off his coat before resting his massive arms on his hips. "It's just… I can't believe I'm actually getting to meet you. I never thought something like this would ever happen."

"Well the honor is all mine," North declared with a delighted smile. He approached her from where he stood near the tree. The darkness of the house cast shadows across his face but didn't hide the warmth in his eyes. "What is your name? I forget. When children grow up, more come along and there are so many more to memorize," he said apologetically and it blew Alice away that he managed to remember the names of every child he delivered presents to.

"Alice," she said with a crooked smile. "Alice Chaplin."

"Alice," he repeated with an earnest grin. He reached a gigantic hand out to her and she shook it, watching as it swallowed her own hand whole. The sleeve of his coat bunched up a bit and she caught sight of very intricate black ink on his skin. She tried not to stare. "It brings me great pleasure to meet you!"

"Likewise," she smiled in a daze, only to be interrupted by a fitful snore. She jerked her head a bit and caught sight of Max tangled up in his blanket on the loveseat. "Actually, if you wouldn't mind, Mr. North—"

"Just North is fine," he smirked from the corner of his mouth, rustling his white moustache and beard.

"North," she corrected, removing her hand from his. "If you wouldn't mind, there's actually someone who really wants to meet you. It'll only be a quick second."

He tilted his head in agreement and she quickly breezed past him to kneel before Max. She shook him a bit to rouse him out of his sleep and he blinked his eyes up at her blearily after the first few tries.

When his eyes settled on hers, he asked hoarsely, "Did I miss him? Did Santa come?"

Alice gave him a soft smile, stomach coiling with excitement. "Actually, he's right here."

Max seemed confused and not fully awake yet to understand her words. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with his fists before Alice slid out of the way and Max was met with a pair of large black boots. He blinked a few times, eyes slowly widening as his gaze trailed upward from the man's toes to his head. When he reached his face, Max's mouth formed a perfect 'o' as North laughed jovially at the boy's reaction.

"Max, this is North," she said with a gleeful smile, gauging the kid's expression that went from dumbstruck to ecstatic as he grinned widely with all teeth. Alice laughed a little under her breath before turning her head to meet North's gaze. "North, this is—"

"Maximilian!" North bellowed, thrusting his arms up. Alice was taken aback only for a moment before she remembered that North knew every kid's name and she relaxed. "How are you, son?"

Max shrunk back in his seat, shyness getting the best of him. "Hi," he said in a small voice. It'd been so long since he'd been called by his full name which probably threw him off.

Alice crooked a grin at North. "I'm guessing you know Max well enough? Or at least, know of him?" she asked.

"But of course! He is one of children on top of Nice list! Has been for many years," North announced with a friendly wink. Alice wasn't at all surprised by that fact, but she felt pride swirling in the pit of her stomach. It meant something completely different coming from North. She gave Max a winning smile and squeezed his shoulder.

Max fiddled with the hem of his shirt as he opened and closed his mouth, as if trying to find the right words to say.

Finally, he managed, "Did you bring any presents?"

Alice had to bite her lip to keep from laughing but North didn't hold back and he hollered another laugh from deep within his belly.

"Of course, of course, take a look!"

Max followed the arm North extended to the bottom of the tree and he gasped in excitement when he saw the twinkling stack of presents, piled high and ready to be torn open. Alice almost had to physically hold him back from pouncing on them. North was visibly entertained by Max's giddiness.

"Well," North clapped his gloved hands together and it sounded like thunder. "I must be off! Many presents to deliver yet and only five hours to go! It was honor to meet you Maximilian," he was able to get an unsteady handshake out of Max who went back to curling into himself with chagrin. Alice snickered with a roll of her eyes before she shook the hand North held out to her. "And you, Alice. It is refreshing to see such an old believer. Maybe there is hope yet," he winked and Alice quirked a half grin.

She stood up and straightened out the wrinkles in her shirt awkwardly. She didn't really know how to see him out. Was he going to disappear up the chimney?

"Thanks again," she said quietly as Max began pawing at the presents under the tree whilst keeping a close eye on North who would raise an eyebrow at him every time he tried to subtly rip open one of the gifts. He quickly stopped once realizing he was caught and a cheeky grin splashed across Max's lips. "For staying to meet him," Alice clarified, shaking her head at the exchange between the two.

"It is no trouble at all," North waved her comment off. She was beginning to get a crick in her neck from tilting her head so high up to look at him. He stepped back towards the chimney and tilted his furry black hat at her in salutation. "Merry Christmas and please," he gestured towards the mound of gifts. "Please enjoy."

And with that, he shimmered a bright white before the glowing light disappeared up the chimney and Alice was left once again with a slacked jaw. She had a feeling she would never get used to magic because one minute he was there and the next he wasn't.

"How am I not dreaming?" she murmured to herself.

She felt a pair of hands grip her pajama pants tightly and she looked down at Max who was gazing up at her with wide, excited eyes. She quickly knelt down next to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"We just met Santa Claus," he said, voice shaky and uneasy with barely concealed enthusiasm.

"We just met Santa Claus," she repeated and the two of them shared a laugh (of disbelief, of joy, of amazement) and fell onto the floor in a mixture of limbs. Max turned his head to face her as they laid there for a second, chuckling every few seconds until the exhilaration was out of their system. She gave him a small smile and he returned it, blue eyes nearly glowing in the lighting of the tree and the look in those eyes spoke volumes. Alice felt a warm tingle in her chest.

Max then sat up and she followed him. "Can I open my presents?" he asked and the hopeful look on her face dared her to say no.

Alice rolled her eyes before nodding. "Okay, go!" she pushed him forward with a laugh and he dove into the gifts, ripping them apart and yelling excitedly every time he saw something he'd been wanting. Christmas morning be damned.

Alice grinned brightly as she watched him. It'd been a long time since she'd seen him that happy. Though, she figured he probably looked a lot like that when he first met Jack.

Alice stood from her seat on the carpet and made to turn and head into the kitchen for some hot cocoa but something caught her eye under the tree and she stopped. She furrowed her eyebrows, squinting a bit as she tried to read something that was written on one of the presents. Max was distracted by the gifts on the other side of the tree so she got on her hands and knees and crawled over to where the mysterious gift was perched underneath a much larger present.

She pushed it out of the way and examined the gift. It was wrapped in simple red paper and on the center of it in sloppy text was written ALICE. Tilting her head in confusion, she picked up the gift. It felt slightly heavy and was rectangular in shape. She sat back and tore the paper off, the spine of a book catching her eye. It was rigid and leather-bound which explained why it was so heavy. She ripped the rest of the paper off and gold, medieval lettering flashed in the light of the Christmas tree.

 _The Original Folk & Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm,_ it read.

"Huh," she muttered. The cover was deep red with the silhouette of a tree and two small figures, presumably children, surrounding it. The illustration on the cover was texturized she noticed as she ran her fingers across it. She opened the book and it protested against the pressure. Clearly the book had never been opened before. She flipped through the pages, the fresh scent of ink and paper filling her senses.

There was chapter after chapter of folklore and legends of mystical fairy tales. Ominous was the dark cover of the book which, judging by the content she skimmed through, wasn't too far from the truth. Some of the stories seemed rather grim, which was quite fitting and a bit ironic considering the title of the book.

The Brothers Grimm seemed familiar to her, though Alice was almost positive it'd just been a passing fancy in her childhood. Maybe something she came across in a bookstore once or something her parents might have mentioned. It was nothing she knew anything about really besides the fact that the Grimm brothers did exist some time ago and were known for their dark writings and storytellings of children's stories.

Her lips turned downward in idle curiosity as she shrugged. She supposed it could be an interesting read one day.

But she couldn't help but wonder why North of all people would give her such a book.

* * *

 **I got this chapter finished sooner than I expected. Mostly because I couldn't stop** _ **writing**_ **the chapter which I hope won't confuse people since it sort of does a bit of skipping around. I tried to make it smooth transitions but you know, sometimes it doesn't translate as well on paper (or, Microsoft Word, rather) as it does inside my head so. I apologize for that if it seems rocky.**

 **Also real quick… I hope I didn't build up the anticipation of Christmas too much. I hope you guys didn't think the major plot of this story was going to revolve around Christmas or anything. I only say this because the chapter did take a bit of a time leap. But I mostly wanted to speed it up to Christmas to introduce North (however briefly!) because I love him.**

 **So yes. This is where the story really begins. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am. I have so much planned and I'm so glad to have you guys here to tag along for the ride.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

* * *

 _A few weeks ago…_

Pitch Black was a lot of things.

He was the Nightmare King. He invoked fear in children. He had a fairly high tolerance for stupidity considering he wasn't stupid and he enjoyed a good spar so long as he was on the winning side. He knew how to play his cards right because he was almost always the one who stacked the deck. He liked to think he was merciful unless they just talked too damn much in which he didn't have too much tolerance to spare. It was just a small detail he needed to work on. When he found the time.

Again, Pitch Black was a lot of things.

But patient was not one of them.

He didn't like to wait. He didn't like when _things_ kept him waiting. Especially not in the Northern Woods where he was surrounded by dryads on all sides.

The air hummed in offense of his presence which was nothing short of annoying. He wasn't sure who he was looking for, never having actually met the man he was seeking out. He sincerely hoped it wasn't a nymph or one of the Seelie faeries, though his money was on neither considering he wasn't on good terms with either race.

The dryads were nimble and poised in stature, though their leaves twitched in warning whenever they passed by him. As if they were wary he was actually planning a blatantly obvious attack. Right out in the open. What was he going to do, burn down one of their trees and dance around the fire? He was pretty sure it was sacrilegious to stare at their branches the wrong way. He considered sticking his tongue out at the dryad who was running her wooden fingers through the flowers in her hair just to see what would happen but decided his boredom wasn't worth the effort. He wasn't in the mood to be attacked by shrubbery. The dirt was so difficult to get out of his robes.

Pitch liked to pretend that he had better places to be, more important things to do, but he'd be lying through his teeth. It took him long enough to reach the Northern Woods on foot as it was and so much time had already been wasted by him wandering aimlessly like a fool. He was more or less pissed that he'd been led on a wild goose chase for a fortnight, not having actually known who the hell he was looking for. He was given a name but at this point he couldn't be assed to remember what it was. He caught word that a man who sounded like the one he was after was doing business in the Northern Woods for whatever the fuck reason so here he was, being stared down by tree creatures and having his patience worn thin.

A twig snapped somewhere behind him and Pitch jerked his head in the direction it came, narrowing his eyes a bit as he heard bushes rustling. He was at a bit of a disadvantage at the moment, having only a mouthful of heated curse words at his disposal and maybe a few good punches. He was agitated and tired and figured that'd probably work out in his favor if it were to come to that but in a very underwhelming turn of events, a figure stalked out from between the trees with somewhat of a skip in its step.

"Pitch Black," the voice drawled. Pitch quirked an eyebrow, back stiff with wary disinterest. "The Boogeyman… the Nightmare King in the flesh, oh lucky me," it taunted in a grating, high-pitched tone that made Pitch's jaw clench.

The figure morphed into something akin to human as it stepped forth from between the shadows of the trees. Pitch eyed the thing slowly from head to toe. It was shaped like a man, a bit, except for the leathery, wrinkled ashen-skin of its face and a smile that stretched a bit too far across its cheeks with pointed teeth. It donned a dark pinstriped vest and pants to match with a collared dress shirt underneath and a pocket watch. It almost looked human except for the face with that uneasily large grin.

"Sorry," Pitched apologized even though he wasn't as he lifted his chin. "You seem to known an awful lot about me but I don't believe I know anything about you."

The thing hummed. "Call me Tom," it said, dark beady eyes shining with mirth as if the name were an inside joke. "I heard you were looking for me. Nice of you to drop by," Pitch bristled a bit, unsurprised but fairly annoyed that 'Tom' seemed to have been expecting him. "I'm a busy man, after all, kind of the customer's job to come to me," he said as if he sensed Pitch's irritation. He gave a whimsical smile and bowed his head as if giving Pitch permission to speak.

He kept his voice firm and composed. "I heard you could help me," Pitch said smoothly. He kept his eyes on the man as he stepped wordlessly towards Pitch, watching him with intense interest as his boot-clad feet crunched and thumped in the dry leaves below.

A bunch of red flags were waving in Pitch's brain and his skin crawled beneath his cloak as he followed the man as he circled him like a predator sizing up its prey. If it weren't for the fact that this was the most excitement Pitch had since Easter he would've cut the conversation short and turned away before he dug himself into a hole he couldn't climb his way out of.

If the abnormally large grin hadn't given it away, it was the thick silence that surrounded him alerting him to the fact that none of the dryads were around anymore. They'd leveled Pitch with steely glares and turned their noses up at him in disgust, but apparently they didn't even want to be near this guy. Evidence enough that he was bad news.

But Pitch wasn't usually one to walk away from a bit of danger.

"I want my powers back," he said. "My nightmare sand that those idiots so kindly stole from me."

"Oh you mean the Sandman's sand that you manipulated into your own with a bit of dark magic?" Tom pointed a long, thin finger at him, a new, more dangerous grin broadening up the side of his leathery face. His silvery-grey teeth glinted in the afternoon light as if they were tiny, sharp razor blades protruding out of his gums. He laughed a maniacal, shrilling laugh as Pitch's lips curved downward in distaste, though the rest of his expression remained stony and impassive. "If I remember the story correctly, a bunch of children turned your nightmare sand against you. Clever little things, kids are, especially when you underestimate them."

Tom leaned his shoulder against a tree, resting his body weight against the trunk and Pitch wondered if that was the end of his incessant monologue but the man continued on.

"Is this a revenge story? Is that why you want your powers back?" The idea seemed to positively thrill him. "Pardon my manners but if my math is correct, you are soulfully outnumbered."

"Will that affect your decision to help me?" Pitch countered in a very blasé, devil-may-care sort of way. In truth, he wasn't worried about that. Quite the opposite, actually.

"Of course not," Tom smirked and clasped his spindly hands together. "But I am _abysmally_ curious."

Pitch did wonder if his answer would sway the man one way or another but decided he just didn't care. The metaphorical deck of cards in his hand was already adding up to be a full house.

"I'm not out for revenge," he relented with a roll of his eyes and Tom tilted his head with a hum. It was very childlike and innocent, that gesture, but his eyes flashed dangerously in the rays of sunlight that expelled through the treetops. "Despite however much they may deserve it. I have other matters to attend to so if you would be so kind…"

"You know what's funny?" Tom interrupted suddenly as if Pitch hadn't been in the middle of speaking. Tom obviously seemed to think whatever he was about to say was much more interesting. "The fact that you pick so many fights with the Big Four – or, rather, the Big Five now as it would seem; funny how things work out, innit? – and yet you seem to forget that you're actually one of them," he eyed Pitch with raised eyebrows and mock sympathy. "Someone an angry stepchild?"

"I don't concern myself with the details," Pitch deadpanned.

The man, if he actually was one, was sincerely mistaken if he honestly believed that was a wound he could pick at with any sort of real punishment. Pitch still remained a Guardian and that information wasn't lost on him, but it wasn't exactly a sore spot anyone could touch even with a ten foot pole, either.

"Still, it's a very romanticized concept isn't it?" said Tom airily. "The ugly duckling who doesn't quite fit in? You are, after all, the black sheep of the family. Literally and figuratively speaking," he said gleefully, as if the fact could not sound any more appealing to him than it already did.

"Fuck sake," Pitch grinded his teeth and clenched his fists. "Can you help me or not? I didn't come here to have my ear talked off all day."

Tom's idle amusement vanished and left no traces of it behind. At this point Pitch didn't care if he angered him. If he wasn't going to help him, he needed to find someone who would. Tom seemed more apt at having a pissing contest rather than actually doing anything useful.

"I'm not very fond of your tone but yes, I can help you. The question is whether or not I choose to do so."

"Appreciated," Pitch hissed. "Which is it going to be?"

Tom's black, beady eyes narrowed at the Nightmare King and he seemed to be reading further into something that Pitch couldn't quite see.

"I'll help you," he announced after an electrifying pause. "But as you know, it's not something I'm just going to do out of the kindness of my heart."

"Pity."

"You know how this works, Pitch," Tom ignored him, pushing himself away from the tree to amble casually up to Pitch, leaving only a few feet of space between them.

His face was much more grotesque and misshapen up close, his mouth and eyes not at all proportionate to his facial structure, and Pitch wrinkled his nose as the man watched him steadily. The atmosphere tensed as Tom's cheek twitched, threatening to give way to another unnerving smile.

"I bargain with people who have something worthwhile to offer," he said, shoving his hands inside his pants pockets. "Fortunately for you, you have something I want. In return, I can get your powers back."

Pitch narrowed his eyes. "How?"

Tom rocked back and forth on his heels, ever the air of childlike innocence. "Oh, it's just a matter of persuasion. With the right ammunition, I suppose you could say, I can get the parties I want talking without so much as breaking a sweat."

If that wasn't the vaguest explanation Pitch had ever heard…

It seemed as if Tom was going to elaborate on that further but he didn't say anything else and Pitch was left to ponder the implications, not that he was too concerned with the _how_. He was more focused on the _when_ and how quickly it would benefit him.

"And what would this _riveting_ something you want be?" Pitch asked sardonically.

Tom smiled, mouth stretching from ear to ear and exposing dozens of tiny, sharp teeth.

"Information."

* * *

 **Present Day**

Alice turned the page in her storybook. It was almost fascinating reading such dark versions of household fairy tales, though only having the lamp on next to her on a cold winter's night while the rest of the house slept sort of gave her the creeps. Especially considering what she was reading. Every few minutes or so she felt the tingling sensation of eyes on the back of her neck and she had to pause, just to reassure herself that nothing else was in the house except for her and a sleeping Max in his bedroom.

" _Rook di goo, rook di goo!_

 _There's blood in the shoe._

 _The shoe is too tight,_

 _This bride is not right._

 _Rook di goo, rook di goo!"_

Alice's brows furrowed as she winced. All for a golden slipper. She couldn't imagine the willpower it took to actually slice off pieces of your foot just so it could fit into one shoe. She couldn't wrap her head around it. How had the story changed so much? Did it originally start out with Grimm's fairy tales? Or did the Grimm brothers twist the stories into something much more macabre?

Alice took a moment to wipe her eyes tiredly. She'd been so wrapped up in the book that she hadn't been able to peel herself away. She'd said goodnight to Max well over three hours ago. It was nearing midnight if it hadn't already reached it. She closed her eyes for a moment, relishing in the quiet as her mind eased and settled from all the reading. With a sigh she placed the book on the end table underneath the lamp, watching with mild interest as the golden letters glimmered and shined under the yellow light.

It was storming outside and had been for the better part of a week. The roads were slick with water and ice and the air was so cold it nipped painfully at your cheeks like cuts from tiny razors. If the schools hadn't already been out for winter break, they would've been closed due to severe weather conditions. Alice could have sworn that as she watched the large torrential downpour, the raindrops turned into long, jagged icicles as they sliced through the air. She could have been imagining it and it may have been a slight exaggeration, but the days were so cold that she wouldn't have been surprised. It seemed odd to have thunderstorms in the middle of winter. But then again, was it really? She didn't even know.

Low rumbles of thunder splintered through the sky, some reverberating off into the distance for a good minute straight and others roaring loudly and suddenly for the briefest of seconds and setting off the occasional car alarm before engulfing the world in an eerie silence. Weathermen couldn't explain the sudden weather change. Alice was taken aback by the turn it took after Christmas Day and she kept the weather channel on, leaving it as background noise whenever she was near the living room so she could listen for any news. Particularly on how much longer the storms were going to last.

She hadn't seen Jack much since he visited last time after he'd been mysteriously missing for days. The snow that continued to blanket the ground outside suggested he was still in business, but she knew (at least, she was fairly certain) that he didn't control the rain or thunder and lightning. She idly wondered if that was some other mystical fairy tale's job and if they were just in a bad mood. Clearly _some_ higher being was angry and it was taking it out on the entire eastern hemisphere.

It was hard for Max to get to sleep on most nights. The storm continued to rage on outside his bedroom window regardless of how often he protested. Alice had to sit with him until he fell asleep and make sure that no loud claps of thunder startled him awake. Sure, it stormed in Ohio often enough but it was nothing like what Burgess had been subjected to the past week or so. On the first night, the thunder had been so loud and unexpected that it shook the house. Alice nearly had a small panic attack and Max had been forcefully woken up and spontaneously burst into tears.

A bit of thunder shook Alice out of her reverie. She blinked the film away from her eyes that had formed the second she started spacing out. A bright flash of lightning followed in the thunder's wake, setting the house ablaze with light before everything dimmed. She sighed again, figuring she should probably head to bed but feeling too lazy to make the trek all the way down the hall.

She forced herself up off the couch and made a quick detour into the kitchen to have a glass of water. There were a few dirty plates sitting in the sink that she hadn't been in the mood to clean. The dreary weather was taking its toll on her emotions. It was hard for her to get up in the morning because the clouds were so dark that it didn't even feel like the days began until almost noon. That was actually what got her into reading the Brothers Grimm. Considering the weather… why not?

Max wasn't able to play outside because of it and for the first time, he didn't seem too upset by that fact. He was too engrossed in his new Xbox to really care about anything else. Though she monitored what games he played and made sure he didn't play anything too violent or graphic, she mostly gave him free reign to do whatever he pleased because there was nothing else for him to do.

Alice leaned against the counter and sipped on her water for a few calm minutes. Her eyelids felt like weights and she was beginning to regret staying up until 12:34am.

She was dead weight on her feet by the time she finished her glass and she went to sit it down in the sink with the rest of the dishes when a high-pitched shriek shot through her core and she dropped the glass with a loud gasp, feeling her heart race beneath her cotton top. The glass hit the kitchen tile and shattered into millions of tiny, sharp pieces. Some nicked her in the ankles with fierce stings and others bounced off the cabinets, scattering about the floor in unruly constellations.

Alice didn't pay attention to the cuts or the small beads of blood that spotted along the hem of her pants. Because the sound had come from Max's room.

She quickly ran from the kitchen, ignoring the small shards of glass her sock-clad feet slammed into along the way. Her mind was blank, frozen with terror, but her legs seemed to have minds of their own as they carried her as fast as they could down the hall. She slammed the door open with her arm, breathing erratically and deeply as she did a quick scan of the room to see if anyone was in there. In the back of her mind it registered to her that she didn't have a weapon but if the adrenaline that was pumping wildly through her veins was anything to go by, she probably didn't need one.

When her brain was reassured that nothing out of the ordinary was tucked away in his room, Alice quickly scrambled over to Max's bedside and put her hands on the boy's cheeks as she looked him over. His green nightlight cast weird shadows over his face but she was able to see him clearly enough. His skin was white as a sheet, all color drained from his cheeks and his eyes were a pale, lifeless blue that she'd never seen before. He was gripping his blankets tight in his fists as he breathed unevenly. Alice was momentarily concerned that he was going to have some sort of seizure or anxiety attack and she gently placed one of her hands on his chest as if to coax his breathing into a less alarming pace.

Her eyes bore into his with a severity she didn't even know she could muster and her free hand continued to stroke his bizarrely cold cheeks in an effort to soothe him.

"What happened?" she demanded at once when she was sure he didn't have any cuts or bruises for whatever reason.

His wide eyes met hers and as if the dam had burst from physical eye contact, tears began to pour down his cheeks. Alice felt a sharp pang in her chest at the sight and her stomach clenched as she moved her hand from his chest to his hands. They were shaking. She curled her larger hands over his smaller ones that continued to grip his blankets in an iron grasp.

"Max," she said again, more firmly. "What happened?"

"I—I s-saw…" he choked a bit on his words, voice hiccupping as sobs wracked his tiny body.

Alice's forehead was pulled tight with concern, eyebrows permanently furrowed as she pulled him into her. He collapsed against her chest, cries muffling in her shirt and she stroked his hair slowly. Her jaw was tense as she clenched and unclenched it, placing a kiss on the top of his head as she helped him ride out the tears.

Her heart continued to hammer painfully behind her ribcage and she realized with a start that her own hands were shaking beyond her control. She swallowed thickly and held Max tighter as he whimpered and trembled in her arms.

"It's okay, Max, it's okay…" she chanted over and over again as she rocked him. She kissed the top of his head again and held onto him tight, vowing to never let him go.

"H-he was standing ou-outside my window," Max stuttered through shaky breaths as his fingers dug into the base of her spine. Alice swallowed.

"Who's he?" she asked, voice trembling.

"Glowy eyes," Max said and when she looked down she saw his eyes were wide as he reflected on it. "Scary face. Couldn't barely s-see him but I know he was there, I know it. He looked at me. _He looked at me._ "

"Shh," she whispered into his ear, though her mind was running at a mile a minute. She had the faint urge to call the police and report it, but she didn't have any evidence to prove that someone was there. All she had was Max's word and she knew that wouldn't be enough.

"Don't let him take me, please don't let him take me…" Max cried, muffling his sobs into her shirt and she felt her heart shatter. A steady flow of tears streamed down her face at the boy's hysteric begging and she gripped him tight until he whined.

"I'm not going to let anyone get you, Max, I promise," she whispered fiercely.

They sat there for a few minutes. Max's cries eventually calmed into slight hiccups and she caressed his back with her fingertips which seemed to at least provide him some level of comfort.

"Well look who it is," Alice commented lightly, voice faint as she waltzed through the sliding glass door.

Jack was perched on the fence nearest to their porch the following night, idly swinging his staff about as he rested his elbows on his thighs. The heavy rainclouds were blocking the twinkling stars from view but the glow of the moon ignited a path for her amongst the ground.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her in a way of greeting, watching her with vague curiosity as she trekked through the wet, melting snow, leaving a disarray of footsteps in her wake.

"It's been a while since I've seen you," she said airily, trying to feign indifference though her eyes conveyed an ounce of hurt at the statement.

She hoped Jack wasn't able to read beyond the face value of her words, though by the looks of his eyebrows that were pulled taut as his eyes raked over her face, she realized he'd probably already decoded the underlying meaning of her words.

"Yeah, I've been around it's just," his brows furrowed even further the more he looked at her and Alice felt slightly self-conscious, as if she could feel his gaze pierce through the veil of her shielded thoughts. "It's just been really… _hectic_ lately, I guess. Some storm, huh?" he grinned faintly and she shrugged, not able to really disagree but it was obvious she had other things on her mind. "Are you alright?" Jack asked carefully, eyes glowing with concern. He placed his staff on the ground, leaning it against the fence.

Alice shook her head, rattling her distracted thoughts loose. "I'm sorry. I'm kind of zoning out. I'm alright, it's just…" she bit the inside of her lip, wondering if she should mention what happened to Max the night before. As Jack tilted his head, she realized she'd probably feel guilty not telling him. And plus the situation was just wreaking such havoc on her mind that she felt it'd probably ease her conscience to tell _someone_. "It's just Max," she said finally, hugging her arms to herself. "Something happened with Max last night that's… kind of got me freaked out."

Jack was instantly on alert as his back straightened.

"What happened?" he asked, voice dropping an octave in seriousness.

Alice shuffled her feet. "I was in the kitchen getting something to drink and I heard him scream. I ran in to see what was wrong. He was a mess. He soaked my shirt from crying so much. I'd never seen him cry like that before. He said he…" she felt her skin crawl, like little bugs were moving around under her skin. "He said he saw someone outside his window."

"Someone like who?" Jack leaned forward.

She shook her head. "I don't know. He said it had these… glowing white eyes whenever the light hit them right. He said he couldn't really see its face but he said whatever it was looked right at him. After he screamed, it was gone just like that. As if it were never there."

Alice grinded her teeth to keep from letting her emotions boil over but she felt the wetness in her eyes and she quickly shook her head again, placing a hand over her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she sputtered. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry on you it's just…" she stepped back and turned away from him, closing her eyes to squeeze out the tears. She felt overwhelmed and tired and unable to cope with everything she was feeling. She pulled her hand away from her mouth to fan herself, as if to dry her eyes before any more tears fell.

Clearing her throat, she turned back around, avoiding Jack's piercing gaze as he watched her intensely.

"It's just… I don't know if he was having a nightmare and whatever he saw seemed real, or if he actually did see something because apparently monsters are real now and I don't know what to do because he doesn't want to be in his room anymore because he's afraid he's going to see it again and what if something's actually after him or what if it was just his imagination and he's freaked us both out for no reason?" she rambled nonsensically, unable to stop herself from the flood of words that poured out of her mouth.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Jack slipped off his perch on the fence. There were permanent creases in his forehead as he frowned at her and Alice felt mortified that he was so concerned. She wasn't even able to keep it together for five minutes before she burst into tears. How sad was that? "It's going to be alright," he assured her again and his tone was velvety smooth like honey and made her feel like she needed to believe it whether she actually wanted to or not. He cautiously stepped towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders to provide some level of comfort. "Did you tell anyone about what happened besides me?"

Alice sniffed and wiped the drying tears from her cheeks before shaking her head. "No, I didn't know if he just had a nightmare or not. I didn't really know who else to go to. Should I have told someone?" her voice sounded strained and on the verge of panic.

"No, no, it's okay," he said again, rubbing her arms with his fingers and the cold that emitted from his palms was oddly soothing considering it was freezing outside. "I don't think you _needed_ to tell anyone. But you should just keep an eye out for anyone that looks like they're hanging around your house. I'll come by when I do my rounds at night and see if I notice anything strange. I'll let you know first thing if I do, I promise."

Alice nodded to herself. That sounded like a good plan. It was a good plan, right? She couldn't quite tell. His fingers were rubbing circles into her arms, making her mind feel hazy and distracted. She hadn't realized how much she craved comfort until he gave it to her. It made her feel safe knowing he was there and that he would be there every day while she needed him. And that acknowledgement alone startled her because she never took the time to revel in how much his presence has affected her the past couple of months.

She realized that yes, when he was gone she missed him. She eagerly awaited his return; found herself staring out the window some days just hoping she'd catch a glimpse of blue whizzing through the air. She wondered why she did that, wondered why she'd become so attached to him.

"Curious," she whispered as her thoughts consumed her.

"What?" Jack asked, fingers stopping their ministrations as he glanced down at her.

She looked up at him and quickly shook her head, feeling her cheeks flush. "Oh, nothing."

She certainly hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Jack eyed her skeptically. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Then all her previous worries came flooding back to her and she grimaced, rather wishing her old thoughts would return so she wouldn't have to think about it all.

"Max is inside sleeping on the couch," she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder as she motioned vaguely to the house. "He doesn't know I'm out here and if he wakes up and sees that I'm not there, he's going to panic."

Jack bit his lip. "Maybe you should go back inside then."

His hands didn't leave her shoulders. He seemed reluctant to let her go and she felt reluctant to leave him outside by himself. It wouldn't do any harm, would it? He'd been in her house before.

"Would you like to, uh, come inside?" she asked, wincing a bit and hoping the question hadn't sounded awkward. Though she didn't know why it would have.

Jack grinned a bit, his features brightening as if he'd been waiting for her to ask. "Yeah, sure."

She smiled at his enthusiasm and backed out of his reach before moving towards the house, Jack's light footfalls in tow behind her.

The house was warm (hopefully not too warm for him, she fleetingly thought) as they stepped inside. Alice quietly closed the sliding glass door behind them and made quick work of the shades, pulling the blinds taut in front of the door in case of prying eyes. She then smiled again at Jack once she turned back around who was leaning against the counter next to the door. He glanced about the area with idle curiosity and raised his eyebrows in amusement once his gaze met the cluttered sink. She rolled her eyes.

Alice tip-toed into the living room following the sound of soft snores, face softening as she saw Max curled up underneath a blanket sleeping soundly.

She heard Jack's approach before his words. "He looks peaceful," he said, coming to stand at her right.

She nodded. "Yeah. The couch isn't the softest place though."

She padded over to the sofa where the boy slept on as if she weren't in the room. She placed a hand on the small of his back before wrapping it around his waist, using her other hand to cradle his head as she lifted him. He stirred and whined softly against her neck.

"Need a hand?" Jack asked, holding out his arms as if he were ready to catch a football rather than a small child.

"No, I'm fine," she snorted inwardly and maneuvered around the winter spirit to carry Max down the hall who'd already fallen back to sleep with his nose buried in the crook of her neck.

Alice knew he didn't like sleeping in his room at the moment, but she figured her room would be fine. The faint scent of her perfume and shampoo rested on the air and supposedly that comforted Max. Like she was there even though she wasn't. If he were to wake up, he'd be less likely to panic if he knew he was in her room rather than his own. He would know she was nearby.

She placed him underneath the silky duvet, pulling the blankets and sheets up to his chin as he curled back into a ball. He stuffed his face into her pillow, breathing in the familiar scent and visibly relaxing. She smiled a little to herself at the sight and leaned forward to kiss his rosy cheek, stroking it with her finger after she pulled away.

"I love you," she whispered because she felt the need to say it. Even though he wasn't awake, she hoped the words would somehow reach him in his dreamland because no truer words had been spoken.

With one last meaningful glance, she quietly slipped out of the room and closed the door to an inch behind her, leaving a small stream of light flooding into the room. It cascaded over the boy's face just the way he liked it and she ambled back down the hall, satisfied.

Jack was lounging in the spot Max once occupied, his feet tossed up on the coffee table in front of him with his staff resting against the back of the couch.

"Made yourself comfortable, did you?" she joked.

"As comfortable as I could yeah," he wiggled around a bit with a dramatic frown. "This couch really is hard."

"Oh you have no room to complain Mister I-Sleep-On-A-Park-Bench."

"Hey," he countered in mock offense. "I told you that in confidence," a grin slipped through his lips before he could hold it back and she shook her head. "Besides, I don't _really_ sleep. More like a brief doze than anything else."

"Really?" she asked in surprise, circling around the coffee table to sit on the free cushion next to him. She pulled her legs up into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Not at all?"

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p' like Max did. He tossed an arm over the back of the couch, hand resting near her head and taking advantage of the close proximity by tugging on her curly hair that for once wasn't in a ponytail.

"Are you not able to or do you just not need to?" she asked, swatting his hand away when he twisted one of her curls around his pointer finger.

"Don't need to," he told her, finally leaving her hair alone. "It's just a Guardian thing, I guess," he shrugged.

"I don't know if I'd like that," she admitted. "Sleeping is like my only escape. I can't imagine being forced to stick around in reality all the time. I'd probably go insane."

"Pretty sure I'm already insane," said Jack. "I like to think it's part of my charm."

"Nothing more charming than a nutcase," she squinted at him and he grinned.

"My thoughts exactly. I mean, look at you. You're talking to the spirit of winter and not ten days ago you had a conversation with Santa Claus. That just screams mental institution," he winked.

Alice grimaced. "Don't remind me. I'm still trying to convince myself that this all isn't one big hallucination. I can't believe I actually _met_ Santa Claus."

"Hey, what about _me?_ " he placed a pale hand over his heart in mock hurt.

"Your novelty has worn off," she said dryly and he looked properly offended.

"I resent that," he pointed at her, blue eyes shining with mirth. "I keep things interesting."

"Yeah but you're not Santa Claus," she teased.

"I could be," he raised his eyebrows, still pointing at her. "I've seen the Naughty and Nice list."

"For this year? Already?" she grinned crookedly. "Christmas is already over, remember? This isn't your turf anymore. It's almost time for Easter and spring."

"You'd be surprised how quickly names get added to that thing," Jack lamented seriously and Alice laughed. "And don't remind me about Easter. I haven't been away from Bunny long enough. I'm not ready to see him yet."

"The Easter Bunny," Alice reflected on the idea of a large warrior bunny with boomerangs strapped to his back and ears as long as her legs. "I wonder if I'll ever get to meet him?" she wondered aloud just to see Jack's reaction. She wasn't disappointed as he bristled.

"No, Sophie's his human. He doesn't get you, too," said Jack with narrowed eyes. His fingers sparked blue next to her head and she had to move out of the way.

Her eyebrows rose and her face felt hot but she tried hiding it with a taunting grin. "Oh, I'm _your_ human am I? What about Max or Jamie?"

Jack considered this. "They're my humans too, I guess."

"Gee you sure do get around," she deadpanned though the grin remained on her lips.

He smirked boyishly. "What can I say? I'm the favorite."

A comfortable silence settled between the two of them. Frost continued to sparkle from Jack's fingertips and Alice went between watching them with a mesmerized look on her face and watching him. Jack was gazing intently at her with a look she couldn't describe. It was a lot like the ones he usually gave her—where it felt like he was trying to examine her from the inside out, trying to learn how her mind worked—but there was an edge of something else there she couldn't put her finger on. Something softer, more delicate. Kind of like the night at the Library of Congress, as if he was seeing her for the first time or in a different kind of light.

She cleared her throat, hoping to snap both of them out of their trances but his lips only quirked upward as she shifted a bit in her seat. The look was still there, but this time it was more entertained than anything else.

"You really get under my skin when you look at me like that, you know?" she muttered with chagrin. She felt like she needed to say something about it or else she'd never stop flushing every time he did it.

"Like what?" he asked innocently.

"Like _that_ ," she motioned towards his face as he tilted his head with a fond grin. "I don't know, it makes me nervous because I don't know what you're thinking."

That amazed little smile of his returned, like it was exposing so many secrets she couldn't decode. "I'm just looking at you, Alice," Jack said sincerely. She bit the inside of her cheek. "Does it bother you?" he asked, and this time it was an honest question.

She thought about it for a second. Did it really bother her? "No," she hesitated. "It's just… you're staring at me. It's a natural reaction to be nervous," she defended herself and Jack chuckled quietly. She just wanted to disappear.

"It's just, you're kind of the most interesting thing that's ever happened to me so I just have to step back and take a second sometimes," he said, so casually and so genuinely that it absolutely floored her. The statement itself carried so much weight and meaning that it physically weighed her down and she felt herself reeling from it as if she'd actually been slapped.

"That's…" she felt a bit breathless and completely at a loss for words. "That's kind of a lot to put on someone. I mean… I feel like I have to live up to _myself_ which is weird and not something I ever thought I'd have to do," she babbled and wringed her fingers together. If she felt nervous before, she was nearly sweating with anxiety now and Jack had never looked more pleased that he'd elicited such a response out of her.

"I'm sorry," he said even though he wasn't. "Does it still make you nervous now that you know?"

"Yes, more than before," she admitted, licking her lips.

He chuckled again, deep and low in his chest. He pulled his hand away from where it'd been resting near her head and leaned his head on it instead.

"I don't think you really get it," he said and she swallowed thickly, worried that he'd go about saying something else that would end up affecting her deeply for the next few years or so. "You're the first believer any of us have ever had that was over, what, thirteen? And it's me you believed in first. Not North or Tooth, but _me_. The one who only just recently started being believed in in the first place. That's why Jamie means so much to me. Because he was my _first_ believer. And it was because of me that he ended up believing in everyone else. I never thought I'd have that. He gave me this," he waved his hand around a bit as if he were trying to grab the word out of thin air, "sense of importance I never had before. Gave me a real reason to exist. I'll never be able to thank him enough for that. There's not enough time in the world for me to even try.

"But then you come along and I realize that it's so much bigger than just being believed in. It's about making a difference in someone's life. I've always been a little selfish before. I wanted to be believed in because I didn't want to be alone. But it goes both ways, you know? It's not just that they're there for me. I'm there for them too and it's because they need me. But you," he shook his head and that small smile returned, "you don't really need me and yet you believe in me anyway. And you still do which I guess means you still want me around?" he laughed a little beneath his breath. "I don't know why. I ask myself every day because I'm just waiting for the day when I see you and you don't see me back. But so far, that's not happened and I feel like it's not going to happen. Not for a while, anyway.

"And you're just sitting there being so damn _sweet_ and _wonderful_ and it just makes me feel so fucking grateful that you exist," Jack said vehemently and Alice felt her head spin at the emotion behind his words.

Her mouth ran dry and he breathed deeply and she had to swallow a few times to coat her throat before she started coughing or hyperventilating.

"Do you know what I'm thinking now?" he asked quietly and she nodded. He gave a small nod in return. "Good."

Alice pursed her lips and forcefully broke their gaze to let his words settle in her mind. She felt overwhelmed and strangely honored that he felt the way he did about her because she wasn't anyone special. She never had been. She wasn't someone you could pick out of a crowd. She was just Alice.

She didn't realize she said that last bit out loud until he laughed, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Just Alice is pretty damn perfect if you ask me," he said with a fond grin and she felt her eyes burning again as a fresh wave of tears threatened to escape.

"Jack…" she really needed him to stop saying such nice things to her before she said something stupid back.

She quickly wiped her eyes before the tears could fall and scooted forward a bit on her knees to wrap her arms around Jack's neck. Jack stiffened up at the contact as if he hadn't been expecting it but he returned the embrace carefully, wrapping his arms around her delicately as if afraid she would break. She squeezed him, trying to convey through the hug that she wouldn't shatter and his arms tightened around her until her stomach fluttered.

Alice sniffed and buried her face in his neck, his snowy-white hair tickling her nose. He smelled like fresh air, like the scent of the trees and rain had molded into his clothes and skin. She squeezed her eyes tight as his fingers ran along the curve of her spine, leaving tingles of both frost and warmth in their wake.

"You know how you said you could never thank Jamie enough for believing in you?" she asked quietly into his neck.

"Yeah," he said quietly back.

"Well," she smiled a bit even though he couldn't see it. "I don't think I ever could thank you for saying what you did, so… I guess you and I are kind of in the same boat."

Jack chuckled and she felt his warm breath hit the back of her neck through her hair. "I guess so."

Alice pulled back just enough to where she could see his face. His blue eyes twinkled in the low light of the lamp, his cheeks splotched with very faint traces of red that she'd never seen before. He quirked a crooked smile at her, fingers gripping the hem of her shirt tightly as he held on and her fingers absently stroked the hair at the base of his neck.

The look he was giving her was so endearing that it was nearly magnetizing. She felt hypnotized as their gaze didn't waver and she saw his throat work a bit as he swallowed, eyes mapping out her face because they'd never been so close before. His porcelain skin was peppered with light brown freckles that she had a feeling she never would have noticed before had she not been so close.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her, mouth tilting up into a mischievous grin and he bit his lip as his eyes trailed downward until they reached just above her chin. Her breathing stopped, she felt her heart hammering in her chest, and she felt hot all over as his cold hands lightly gripped the small of her back. There was a beat of silence as Jack's eyes went from her lips to her eyes as if to gauge her reaction and she didn't really know how her face looked, if her eyes were wide or if she was relaxed. She didn't know how to feel, didn't know if she wanted something like that to happen. Her mind wouldn't work. Why wouldn't her mind work? It was like the entire English language just vanished out of her frontal lobe, rendering the entire left side of her brain useless.

His eyes flickered back down to her lips again and the look on her face seemed to provide some sort of reassurance because he tilted his head a bit, leaning in closer and her heart threatened to burst out of her chest. His nose brushed against hers and her breathing suddenly quickened and she opened her mouth to accept the oxygen. She felt Jack's fingers flex, nails digging into the flesh of her back and her throat stuttered—

The shattering of glass forced them apart in an instant and Alice gasped, tossing her head back to glance in the direction it came. Jack was on his feet a second later, dragging her up with him as her arms were still attached around his neck.

"Where did that—" Jack started to demand, only to be interrupted by Alice as she whispered, horrified,

"My room."

She ripped her arms from around his neck and jumped over the coffee table, knocking a few books off and toppling them to the ground.

"Alice, wait damn it—!" Jack shouted from behind her as she stumbled down the hallway.

There was a burst of cold that darted past her as Jack forced himself in front of her, pushing her out of the way as she reached the cracked door. He placed a hand against the doorframe as he shoved the door open, blocking her from running into the room and she stuttered to a stop against his back, hands clutching his hips in a desperate attempt to root herself to the ground.

Her bedroom curtains were billowing in the nighttime breeze as another storm raged on outside, rain fluttering in from the window and wetting the carpet and shards of glass that decorated the floor beneath where the window stood.

Alice felt a scream bubble in her throat as Jack reached back with his free hand to grab onto one of her wrists. The blankets were tossed aside on the bed, sheets wrinkled and distorted to form the outline of where a small body once laid.

Max was gone.

* * *

 **A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! I honestly thought I was going to be able to get another chapter out before the holidays but time just got away from me. I hope this chapter satisfies considering you had to wait almost a month to get it. We're finally in the double digits! I also hope everyone had a great holiday with their families. And if you don't celebrate anything, I hope your December was wonderful and had a safe New Year.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

* * *

One time when Alice was about five or six she got lost in the mall. Well, according to her mother anyway. Alice could remember the day pretty clearly for how long ago it was and from what she recalled, she'd purposefully stepped away from her mother for a few minutes to hide in the coat rack next to where she was skimming through some clothes.

Her mother first got angry, demanding that she come out right away and stop playing games. When Alice simply cackled and didn't move, her mother descended into full-blown panic and grabbed the nearest associate she could find to alert them that her daughter was missing. She rattled off the description of every single person that'd been nearby as if it'd give the associate some sort of lead as to who took her. She also listed from head to toe what Alice had been wearing that day including what color hair pins she had in her then-brown hair.

In retrospect, it'd only been about seven or eight minutes before Alice revealed herself once deciding the innocent trick had gone on long enough. She was quite literally dragged out of the store by the sleeve of her jacket as her mother fumed, steam practically coming out her ears as she promised Alice the longest time out of her life once they returned home.

Alice was in tears, whining and begging for her mother to understand that she was just playing and never meant any harm by it and _please_ don't put her in time out. Her mother grabbed her shoulders and kneeled down in front of her outside their old brown Chevy Suburban in the parking lot and lectured her on why stuff like that wasn't funny and how she should've come out the second her mother started calling her name. Alice didn't understand why it made her so mad, didn't understand the vice of terror that ensnared her mother's heart the second she realized her daughter was gone.

It was something Alice was never able to understand, but it was also something she never forgot. It was the first time her mother was ever properly angry with her and it was also one of the last. She may not have understood at the time what it meant to lose someone like that but it made a strong enough impression that she never did it again. If only to escape the inevitable wrath of her mother and another hour-long time out with no dessert.

But now Alice had a feeling she knew how her mother felt all those years ago.

She stared at the place in the bed Max's body once occupied, feet cemented to the ground as she stared blankly as if her mind hadn't quite caught up to what was happening around her. She wanted to scream, could feel it bubbling up in her throat threatening to burst free from between her lips but it never did. Instead she felt incredibly sick to her stomach and a bit dizzy like maybe she'd throw up or pass out.

Jack scrambled to the window, kicking the big shards of glass out of his way and crushing the smaller pieces beneath his bare feet as if he never felt them pierce his skin. He rested his hands on the window sill, the delicate clanking of glass echoing faintly into the room as his palms spread over the carnage of shattered pieces. He tossed his head left to right and then up into the sky, narrowing his eyes and looking for signs of a retreating form or maybe a getaway car barreling down the road.

When nothing immediately caught his eye, he ran back to Alice who hadn't moved from her spot in the doorway except her skin had lightened considerably into a pale grey that rivaled his own. He placed his hands steadily on either side of her face, forcefully pulling her gaze to meet his and eventually their eyes met and she exhaled shakily.

"I'm going to fly outside real quick to see if I can catch anyone. _Do not leave this house_ ," he stressed, shaking her head as if to rattle the words permanently into her brain. She blinked at him, pupils shrunken to the size of a grain of sand as she watched him without really seeing him. "Do you understand me? Don't even leave this room. Matter of fact, just stay in this _exact_ spot. I won't be more than a minute."

He ran into the living to grab his staff before returning to her room and plunging out the open window, commanding the wind to carry him as high as it could. His eyes carefully scanned the neighborhood below him, snow sparkling beneath the glow of the moon as the clouds began to fade away. It smelled of rain and wet trees and the air was a chilling cold that Jack could feel ineffectively biting at his face.

Lightning flickered above, cascading across the night sky like pulsing veins and Jack felt the hum of the electricity on his skin as he flew higher. His eyes didn't immediately catch anything suspicious in the streets or the woods bordering the outskirts of her neighborhood but once he pulled his head up to glance out into the black horizon, he caught sight of something dark wavering in midair like thick smoke that evaporated in on itself. As it disappeared, Jack could physically feel the disturbance in the air and he knew immediately that someone—or some _thing_ —had just teleported.

It felt the way it had when North first brought him to the Pole when he was pulled through a magic portal. His body felt like it was being stretched across an entire continent like a rubber band without much slack and the air had vibrated around him as his body was thrust through the void and across the northern hemisphere.

He knew North's portals though. They were light, colorful even. This one had been the exact opposite.

"Damn," he hissed, clenching his jaw before flying back down towards her house.

The curtains were being sucked through the open window from the breeze as he dove inside. Alice was nowhere to be seen once he gathered his bearings and he gritted his teeth, jogging through the house and nearly obliterating every door that got in his way as he searched through the rooms until he found her pacing anxiously in the living room. She was shakily holding a phone in her hands and he could see her muttering to herself as she began to dial 911.

Jack reached her in three quick strides and placed his hand over hers to prevent her from calling anyone. She jumped nearly a foot in the air the second their hands met and she glanced over at him with a wild look in her eyes.

"They won't be able to help," he told her firmly, grabbing onto her hands tightly in his as he squeezed and laced their fingers together to try and anchor her. He didn't bother scolding her for not listening to him because now probably wasn't the best time. "Trust me."

Alice swallowed thickly, the phone dropping to the ground from her convulsing. "Max is gone," she said quietly. "He's gone. They took him from me. He's gone…"

"It wasn't them, princess," he said, breathing heavily as he turned his head a bit to scan the dark house. It felt like eyes were on his back no matter which way he turned and it was making him incredibly uneasy. "I don't know who it was but we're going to find out," he promised, bringing his eyes back to hers.

Her brown eyes were shiny and red-rimmed and her lower lip was trembling as she tried to hold her tears back but she just couldn't resist any longer and she let out a quiet sob. She brought an unsteady hand up to her mouth, the one Jack wasn't holding, and cried into it.

"Max…" her voice sounded broken and it felt like Jack's heart was being ripped out of his chest.

"C'mere," he pulled her tightly into him, wrapping his arms around her as violent sobs wracked her body.

He could feel the weight of her loss in the air, could feel the longing to have Max home safe and sound just as strong. He didn't know who took him or why. It made him angry and his fists glowed a dim blue at the thought of someone bursting into the room while Max was asleep and grabbing him before he even had the chance to scream.

It'd been a while since Jack was this angry and he wanted to feed that anger, wanted to take it out on something. Everything in the house seemed fragile in that moment, like he could snap the coffee table in half like a twig or crush her end tables with his fist, but that uneasy feeling was catching up to him and he knew they couldn't linger. He didn't know if whatever got Max would try to come back for her and he wasn't going to risk sticking around to find out.

"We can't stay here," he said finally, pulling back to try and get a good look at her face. Her fingers were gripping his hoodie tightly leaving wrinkles and indents in the fabric and he didn't complain. "It's time to call in the cavalry," he said and she had the sense to look mildly confused between her hiccupping. "Well, technically we'll have to go to them," he added as an afterthought before wincing.

There'd be no easy way to get there, but Jack figured North's workshop was the safest place. He inwardly cursed himself for not carrying around any snow globes because it was going to take a while to get there and it was certainly too cold out for Alice to handle, especially at a high altitude, but they didn't really have any other options. Bunny's tunnels would probably be second best to North's snow globes but Jack didn't exactly have a way to get a hold of him, either.

He scowled to himself. That'd have to be something for them to figure out after finding Max. Jack was sick of always having to go find one of them when things went wrong. He deserved a shortcut too now that he was an official Guardian, damn it. Preferably something cool that could maybe terrify Bunny like North's sleigh.

"Alright," Jack said to himself. He gently peeled Alice's fists from his hoodie and grabbed the blanket that was tossed precariously over the arm of the couch. He turned from side to side, pursing his lips as his eyes scanned her living room, and he quickly ran to grab the coat hanging from the rack near the front door and tossed it over his shoulder. "Shoes, shoes, shoes," he murmured. Of course she didn't have any left out in the open somewhere. "Damn perfectionist," he muttered to himself fondly before making a quick trip to her room to grab the first pair he could find in her closet.

"Put these on," he said softly, dropping the shoes to the ground near her feet when he returned.

She wiped her eyes, face void of any emotion. He tried not to worry about it.

"Where are we going?" she asked, voice quiet and rough.

"Somewhere safe," he told her, hoping he wouldn't have to elaborate because he didn't know how her mind would react to visiting the North Pole in the state she was in. By sheer luck she managed to somehow have enough faith in him to trust wherever he planned to take her like the angel she was and stepped into the shoes without any more questions. He then handed her the coat to put on and she did so robotically. Her cheeks were stained red, streaks following the flow of tears that had dried along her face and her nose was red and irritated.

He then wrapped the blanket around her and held it together in a bundle near her chin, motioning for her to grab onto it. She did.

"Time to go for a ride," he said with a sigh.

It's not that she was a burden for him to carry but he dreaded the flight because it wasn't like they were flying one state over this time. They were going about three times the distance and he kind of hoped his arms wouldn't get tired but at the same time he was worried about having her on his back in case she didn't have it in her to hold herself up.

They made it outside and Jack had the courtesy to lock the front door behind them before a thought occurred to him and his lips thinned as he contemplated the idea. Alice was shivering next to him but her mind seemed on an entirely different planet as she watched the snow pillow the ground in front of them with a faraway look in her eyes.

He quickly pulled the dial out of his pocket and closed his eyes for a second, focusing his thoughts on the act, before waving his hand slowly over the dial's face and a small light erupted from it. The world stilled around them and he licked his lips before pocketing the item and turning to the redhead as if he hadn't done anything.

"Ready?" he asked as joyfully as he could manage considering the circumstances and she nodded, jerking a bit out of her thoughts as she returned to reality. "Just hold on to me," he instructed, pulling her close and she wrapped her arms around his neck loosely.

Clenching his jaw, he wrapped an arm securely around her waist before thrusting his staff forward and the wind lifted them into the air with a clean swoop. She gasped as they plunged upward, stomach dropping at being sky bound and her grip tightened around his neck which made him feel much more confident that she wasn't going to slither out of his grasp and plummet to her death.

Jack didn't like how much she was shivering against him the further they flew. She stuffed her face in his neck not long after they started making their way north and he held her as close to his body as he could. In all actuality it was probably only making her colder and he grinded his teeth at the thought.

His arm ached and her face was cold as ice by the time they reached the snowy mountain passes and shifting sea ice that littered the barren wasteland of the arctic a few miles south of the workshop's back entrance. Occasionally Jack felt Alice's grip around his neck slipping and he had to hoist her higher so his arm could get a firmer grasp around her waist. He worried a few times that she was falling unconscious but her shivering relieved him even though it shouldn't because it at least told him she was awake.

Jack spotted the beacon near one of the snowy mountains and he made his descent, clenching onto Alice for dear life as he tried to make a steady landing near the base of the mountain. The workshop was hidden within the mountain concealing it from any radar which was the slightly annoying part because he'd tried sneaking into the workshop more times than he could count before he became a Guardian and all of his attempts had failed. The place was well sealed and secure; exactly what he was looking for, but not the most convenient considering he was trying to get in for a good reason this time.

He kept an arm around Alice's waist as she whimpered at the cold winds that nearly knocked the two of them over. Frost and snow decorated her hair which looked stringy and damp from the flight there and Jack felt dread pooling in the pit of his stomach.

He knocked roughly at the door that rested a few feet away from the beacon. It blended in well with the mountain and he wouldn't have known it was there if he, well, didn't already know it was there.

" _North!_ " he shouted loudly over the raging winds. He kicked at the door as hard as he could, unsure if it was actually making any sound at all considering the door was metal and nearly six inches thick. He cringed every time he kicked at it because his feet weren't invincible and it hurt like hell.

" _Phil! Frank!_ " he shouted the names of the first yetis that came to mind. Sometimes the yetis lingered near the door to stand guard.

Jack clenched his staff angrily and the tip sparked a fierce blue as he considered blowing the door in as a last resort (if it would even work) but then the beacon began to flash a bright white and the seal to the door began to spin.

"Finally," he muttered as he readjusted his hold on Alice whose breathing was becoming labored and her shivering was fading.

The seal stopped suddenly and there was a beat of silence that thickly coated the air before the door was thrust open with a loud _swoosh_ and Jack jumped as a large burly figure appeared in the threshold.

North stuck his head out the door, beard whipping up into his face from the harsh winds and he sputtered before brushing it out of his eyes and gazing intently around the area with squinted eyes before they landed on the two smaller figures huddled together.

"Jack!" North shouted, taken aback. "What are you—" his eyes narrowed as he saw the body latched onto Jack's side. He lowered his eyebrows, eyes shifting over Alice's trembling form before turning a glare onto the boy who, for all intents and purposes, was trying to look vaguely innocent. "Why did you bring human here?" he demanded.

"Because—"

"You know that is against rules!" North snapped, clenching his fist for emphasis as if he'd said it a million times. "No humans allowed!"

Jack squinted in irritation. "You're making that up."

North looked stunted for a moment and he stared at Jack with a blank look before his fierce glare returned. "Well it is rule _now!_ " he bellowed with fervor and Jack felt like he was a few seconds away from losing his mind.

"North, as much as I would love to argue with you about this and believe me when I say I would be _happy_ to continue this conversation later," he hissed through gritted teeth, "would you mind letting us in before she catches hypothermia? I don't think I'm exactly helping much considering I have zero body heat," he raised his eyebrows meaningfully, gesturing to the girl who continued holding onto him weakly as he practically had to lift her up on his own to keep her level.

North's eyes widened a bit once Alice's face was exposed to the climate and he saw that her lips were turning a vital shade of blue. He began wildly flailing his beefy arms.

"Alright, alright, bring her in! Quit standing in cold, she is probably freezing!" North scolded as if it were Jack's fault they were still outside succumbing to the freezing weather and he rolled his eyes dramatically with a look of exasperation before pulling her inside.

North's eyes lingered on the snowy plateau outside before pulling the door closed and re-sealing it. The sudden drop in noise as the blizzard was trapped outside made Jack's ears ring and he blinked in the slight darkness of the narrow passageway. He could see a pair of eyes down the hall reflecting off the light at the top of the sealed door and a giant, furry outline of a dark figure and he waved slightly at the yeti and it grunted before scurrying down the passageway and out of sight.

North reappeared at his side once the door was sealed.

"Come, come," the jolly man ushered and Jack sighed heavily before hoisting Alice's arm over his shoulder as he urged her to walk with him. North _could've_ offered to help carry her since Jack's arm felt like it was asleep and she was falling more and more limp in his grasp.

Jack managed to keep up with North's long strides until they reached the workshop which, despite the fact that Christmas just passed, was as crowded as ever with yetis painting toys and tinkering with inventions and little elves scuttling at their feet waving their tiny arms about. Jack avoided a few collisions with the yetis and nearly growled when a group of elves trotted in between him and a retreating North. He had to practically kick them out of the way as they gazed up at him and Alice with wide eyes, completely unmoving.

Alice was too focused on the cold to really notice anything that was going on around her and Jack's fingers stroked her side in a desperate attempt to soothe her even though his fingers tingled when he moved them. The arm was definitely asleep.

They eventually reached the atrium that housed the Globe and a grand fireplace. North pulled a rocking chair close to the billowing flames.

"Put her in front of fire," he ordered, disappearing momentarily out of the room to grab another blanket since the one that was currently wrapped around her was covered in melting ice.

Jack gently eased her onto the chair, feeling the flames licking uncomfortably at his skin as he turned his back to it so he could pull the icy blanket away from her before it started to do more harm than good. North held the new blanket in front of the fire for a few seconds to warm it up and Jack looked over the redhead's face with his brows pulled taunt in concern. Her skin was ashen and white, lips colored a grey-blue with frost in her hair and eyebrows. When he went to place his hand on her cheek, he immediately jerked away out of instinct because her skin wasn't supposed to be the same temperature as his.

North finally brought the blanket over and Jack took it from him before he could do anything and carefully place it around the girl's shoulders, bunching it up at her chin just like he did with the previous one. Her eyes were closed but he could see her teeth slightly chattering which made him feel somewhat less worried knowing she was still conscious. She'd walked with him through the passageway but he'd been carrying most of her weight.

"Do you have another blanket for her legs?" Jack asked, feeling the cool cloth of her cotton pants.

"I shall find one," North said and he disappeared behind the corner again.

Jack moved from between her and the fire to not block the warmth and he saw her fist clenching the blanket together to keep it from falling.

"You need to warm up, princess," he said quietly, gazing up at her and unsure if she heard him. If she did, she didn't acknowledge it. He was resting his hands on the arms of the chair when North returned a second time. Jack accepted the outstretched blanket and covered her legs and feet.

Once satisfied that she was properly covered, he stood and backed away to look her over once more.

North watched with his hands on his hips for a brief moment before turning to gaze at Jack with an intense look.

"What is meaning of this?" he asked quietly as if to not disturb Alice.

Jack gave the girl one last calculating look before tilting his head off to the side and North allowed himself to be pulled aside. They stood near the Globe and Jack crossed his arms over his chest, taking a deep breath.

"Her son was taken," he said. He felt the sorrow build up in his chest but he ignored it. North's bushy brows furrowed.

"I'm very sorry but that is not our job," the look North gave Jack was a disapproving one and Jack rolled his eyes again.

"Except for the fact of _what_ took him," Jack said pointedly and North blinked. "I'm fairly certain it wasn't human."

"How do you know for sure?" North asked, sounding skeptical. "She could be in shock. No proof of what she saw."

"I was there with her," Jack stressed. "Something came through the window when Max was asleep in her room. We were in the living room when it happened and when we got there he was gone. I flew out to see if I could spot anyone and I didn't at first but then I saw this cloud of smoke that just," he waved his hands about, "vanished into thin air. I know it was some form of teleportation because the air felt weird when it happened, like when you use your snow globes."

"And you did not see anyone?" North asked, seemingly a bit more convinced now that Jack had explained.

Jack shook his head. "I didn't have time to. Maybe if I'd flown up there a second earlier…" he pursed his lips at the idea and shook it away before the guilt could pool in his stomach. Now wasn't the time.

The burly man narrowed his eyes. "Why were you in her house in first place?"

"I… that's not the point, but I'm glad I _was_ ," Jack said heatedly. "We don't know if whatever took Max wanted her, too. That's why I brought her here. Well, one of the reasons," he gave North a pointed look before glancing up at the sphere that loomed over them, sparkling with tiny golden lights. "Do you think you could find him on the Globe?"

North shrugged a shoulder. "It is worth a try."

He ambled towards the Globe's control panel and began tapping the screen. The Globe flickered to life and began highlighting certain sections of each continent, supposedly in search for Max.

Jack left North to handle the Globe in favor of checking on Alice. She was still bundled up in the rocking chair near the fire. Color was slightly beginning to return to her cheeks, dusting them with a light pink. Her lips didn't look as blue and her breathing seemed to be evening out. Jack figured a mixture of the stress and the weather had put her to sleep for the time being so he let her rest, knowing she wouldn't be as serene as she looked just then when she finally awoke.

He ran a hand through her hair with a ghost of a half-smile before turning towards North who was mumbling to himself.

"Come on Maximilian, where are you…"

Jack returned to North's side as he watched the man work, selecting all different kinds of options on the screen in front of him that made the Globe zoom in on certain areas and shift. Jack wasn't able to follow any of it, had no idea how the controls worked and it was giving him a slight headache trying to watch, but when North huffed in frustration a ball of dread began to twine in the pit of his stomach.

"You can't find him?" Jack asked, trying to keep the hysteria out of his voice. North didn't answer, instead rubbing his fluffy white beard in trepidation, but he didn't have to. "What does that mean? If you can't find him? Does that mean he isn't _here_ or…" Jack swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, unable to say the words. He wouldn't unless he had to. He wouldn't believe it.

North continued scratching his beard. "Let us assume for now that whoever took the boy has placed some sort of cloaking device on him. It would prevent me from finding him," said North, staring intently down at the control panel as if searching for something he might've missed.

Jack didn't like where his train of thought was headed. "That would mean that whoever took him knew we'd come to you for help," he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "They're one step ahead of us. This is useless."

"I believe we can assume that they have always been one step ahead of us," North gave Jack a look before glancing up at the Globe in irritation. "There must be something else."

Jack wasn't one to give up so easily but he had a bad feeling and the last time that happened the Man in the Moon came to give him an ominous talk in his sleep which didn't work out so well since he _still_ had no idea what it meant.

"Who could even hide him from the Globe anyway?" Jack asked, feeling the need to speak his thoughts aloud. He paced a bit in front of North who continued pressing random buttons on the panel. "That thing is practically faultless," he tossed a hand towards it as if to emphasize his point. "It'd have to be someone who knew how your magic worked."

"With the right tools I suspect anyone could do it," North murmured, leaning back with a defeated sigh. As if Jack didn't have enough reasons to panic.

"Well that's just _great_ ," he snapped, throwing his arms in the air. A spark of frost emitted from his fingertips, shooting towards the ceiling. It cascaded down in a brief but heavy snowfall, colliding with the elves nearby and sending them toppling to the ground with high-pitched shrieks. "It could be anybody. We literally have nothing to go on. That's fantastic. We don't have _time_ to sit around and _guess_."

Jack's gazed instinctually shifted towards Alice who remained sleeping in the chair. He didn't even know where to start. How was he supposed to tell her that?

"You are close with this human," North acknowledged. Jack sighed, peeling his eyes away to stare at the ground instead. "That worries me, Jack. You aren't supposed to get attached—"

"Oh spare me the lecture," Jack snapped, lip curling as he glared at North.

North squinted at him. "I think you need to hear it. You are a _Guardian_ , Jack. If you get close to human then you will only end up hurting yourself. And her. There is a _reason_ we don't associate with adults, Jack. If you get involved with one—"

"I'm not _involved_ with her," Jack rolled his eyes.

" _If you get involved with one,_ " North continued as if Jack hadn't spoken. "What do you think is going to happen when she grows old and you do not?" there was a beat of silence as Jack gazed at him, unwavering but also unsure. North waited with a knowing look, unsurprised that he didn't receive a response. "Well?" he asked again and Jack glared, biting the inside of his lip. "Someone is going to get hurt," North said softly. Jack absently trailed his eyes to Alice's sleeping form. "And you do not want it to be her."

"I saved her life," said Jack, still watching her. "I saved her life and because of that she believed in me."

"So I was told," said North with a hint of a smile. Jack turned back to him, shocked.

"Did she tell you that?"

"She did," North nodded.

Jack bobbed his head in a silent nod. "Right," he licked his lips. "Well, it's kind of my job to do it again," he said. "Her son's her world. I have to find him. That kid…" Jack shook his head, feeling an overwhelming sense to just collapse. Or hit something. "… he means a lot to me, too. I have to save him."

North contemplated his words before he nodded. His face was soft in understanding but his words were somber with warning, "I hope it does not go beyond that."

Jack clenched his jaw. "I'm close with the kids. Jamie and Max. How is that any different?"

North raised his eyebrows. "You know how."

Jack remained silent though there were troubled lines creasing his forehead. North turned back to face the Globe once more, eyes scanning its smooth surface and mapping every inch of the golden lights that twinkled like stars in the night sky. One of the elves hobbled by, bells clanging on its hat as it bounced, wiping the snow off its shoulders and glaring as menacingly as it could at Jack who simply raised his eyebrows at it. The elf stuck his tongue out at him before stomping off. Jack made a face at its back.

"Well," North breathed, pushing away from the panel before he started fussing over it again. He turned to face Jack who glanced back at him with a disheartened tilt of his head. "I guess it's time to call the others."

Jack crossed his arms again and leaned against the wall near the grand fireplace as he watched North activate Aurora Borealis to summon the other Guardians. He kept a close eye on Alice, wondering if she'd wake up in time to see the other three arrive. She was stirring a bit in her sleep, face flushed with red as it returned to its natural skin tone. He bit his lip as he waited while North demanded one of the elves to bring a plate of cookies and milk. Jack would have much preferred her to meet the other Guardians under different circumstances.

It took a few minutes but eventually a tunnel formed in the floorboards near the middle of the room. North approached it and waited until a large figure burst through it, landing steadily on all fours before pushing itself upward on its hind legs and brushing its furry arms off.

"This better be good, mate," said Bunnymund, readjusting the straps on his shoulders. "There's eighty-five days until Easter and I still have a few hundred thousand eggs to decorate. I'm up to my ears in paint."

Jack noticed the tips of his ears were coated in light pink and he felt a snicker bubble in his throat before he could stop it, realizing that he'd meant it literally. Bunny whipped his head around to face Jack with narrowed eyes. "Yeah, um…" Jack gestured to his ears.

Bunny glared. "Don't say a word."

Jack threw his hands up in defense and didn't say anything else but he continued to smirk in the Pooka's direction much to the creature's upmost annoyance.

"What's this about?" Bunny asked, ears twitching as he glanced idly about the room. His gaze roamed over the open area of the atrium that led to the working yetis, across the way and past a chair with a sleeping girl, over to the roaring firepl—he did a double take. He thrust his paw in the teenager's direction with his mouth hanging open but North shook his head, lifting a hand to silence Bunny before he even started.

"Let us wait for others to get here first."

Bunny immediately faced Jack with a look of suspicion. "This is your fault," he stated.

Jack felt affronted. "Why does everyone immediately assume I did something?"

"Call it a gut feeling," Bunny deadpanned and Jack shook his head in aggravation.

A sparkly rope of golden dream sand floated elegantly into the room followed by a small man of the same gilded hue riding atop a yellow glowing cloud. It deposited him onto the ground next to Bunny who nodded stiffly in greeting. Many tiny question marks appeared simultaneously over the sandman's head. Once he noticed Alice the question marks multiplied until a mass of gold sand was swirling above his head in indiscernible shapes.

"Easy Sandy," North said a bit exasperatedly. "All in due time."

It took a few extra minutes for Toothiana to fly in and in the midst of waiting the four of them stood in thick silence, awkwardly choosing not to say anything in fear of having to repeat it when the fifth member of their group arrived. Jack was busy eyeing Alice out of his peripherals because she was beginning to shift more in her chair, a telltale sign that she was waking up. Bunny's nose twitched as he watched her openly with an abundance of curiosity and Sandy went between watching them watch her and watching North accept the tray of cookies one of the elves proudly offered to him. Another balanced a large pitcher of milk and several glasses precariously in its tiny arms.

"Sorry I'm late!" Tooth fluttered in sporadically. "Had to make sure the girls were okay in the field. Been training some new fairies lately, they're not used to the hustle and bustle of collecting teeth just yet," she laughed with chagrin, quickly readjusting the feathers on her head the way she always did when she saw Jack. Her gaze inevitably fell onto the girl in the chair and her mouth opened—

"Right, before you say anything," North quickly interrupted her. "Jack," North pointed towards him. "Explain situation."

"I knew it," Bunny said dryly.

Jack ignored him and proceeded to tell them what happened. For the most part they seemed upset to hear that one of their believers had gone missing and Jack was evasive regarding Alice, simply telling them what they needed to know. That Max was her son and she may or may not have been in danger. Also that she believed in them but they wouldn't go into that right now.

"She's…" Tooth started, glancing over at Alice with wide eyes.

"Older, yeah I know," said Jack. "That's not the point right now. I don't know who took Max, just that they vanished in a cloud of black smoke and North can't find his light on the Globe."

"Why would anyone wanna take the kid?" Bunny asked.

"Why does anyone want to take anyone?" Tooth asked sadly and Bunny regarded her with a grim expression, noting how the question was rhetoric.

Jack's feet padded to where Alice continued to stir every few seconds. He placed a hand on her forehead to gauge her temperature and felt much more relieved that her skin practically burned his own. It was one less thing for him to worry about. Her eyelids twitched the longer he kept his hand on her skin and his thumb brushed over the faded scar just shy of her hairline where she'd hit her head all those months ago; the accident that started it all. It looked like it'd be permanent.

Jack sighed, giving her a fond look as he continued stroking her hair. She moaned a little at the contact and Jack quickly pulled his hand away, afraid that maybe the spot was still tender and he hurt her. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned her head towards him, as if seeking out his touch. He carefully returned his fingers to her hair and she settled.

"Well," Bunny hummed, watching the events unfold with wary disbelief. "This is an interesting development."

"Dangerous," North corrected, stepping closer to the warrior bunny as he lowered his voice, "a dangerous development," he said. Tooth and Sandy crowded together, eyebrows pinched at his words. "She is human, almost an adult. Jack does not understand that—"

"I don't like hearing my name in hushed whispers from across the room," Jack's voice resounded flatly, echoing across the wooden floors and startling the four who'd been leaning in to one another. All of them glanced at Jack with looks he couldn't describe. He sighed again, this time in irritation. "What?"

"So the girl, mate," Bunny said carefully with an underlying tone of threat. "Is she—"

Jack shook his head and stepped away from Alice before he could finish. "I'm not having this conversation again," he said firmly, jaw set.

Bunny stiffened and the fur on his back lifted. "Listen, Frosty—"

"No, _you_ listen," Jack pointed an accusing finger in Bunny's direction. For a winter spirit he certainly felt like he was on fire. "I don't need to be told what to do. I'm _not_ an idiot."

"That remains to be seen," Bunny glowered.

"I know what I'm doing!" Jack hissed with clenched fists, stomping his foot on the ground for good measure. A layer of wet frost coated the ground, causing Bunny to nearly lose his footing and slip.

North gave Jack an unimpressed look whether the act of using his magic was involuntary or not. "Stop acting like child, Jack," he scolded.

"Then stop treating me like one!" Jack roared. His words sounded like venom and he was breathing heavily as if they'd unleashed a beast. He was ready to dish out every word that was seizing through his brain whether he'd regret them later or not but a small, broken voice tore through the fiery haze.

"Max…"

Jack blinked back the anger and the red faded from his vision, his fists feeling sore and cramped from clenching so hard. He quickly turned to face the redhead who was blinking her eyes as if to will the sleep away. She was frowning deeply and he reached her in four quick strides, kneeling down to get a good look at her face. Her eyes met his and even though her expression was still tight with anxiety, some of that worry seemed to melt away once she saw him because he was the only one in the room she recognized.

"Jack?" she asked. Her voice was scratchy from lack of use.

"Hey princess," Jack greeted amicably, patting the wooden armrest. "Sorry for the past… three hours or so," he winced as he did the mental calculations. "We're kind of at the North Pole. I figured it'd be safer until we could come up with a game plan."

Alice let the blanket fall down her shoulders as she rubbed her eyes, squinting into the room and gazing intently at the fireplace as if the size alone had taken her aback before she carefully glanced further into the room and caught sight of the four figures standing on the sidelines watching her like a hawk.

"Oh boy," she whispered.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Jack said apologetically. "I really wish you didn't have to meet them this way but they're here to help."

Alice's jaw clenched and Jack could almost see the thought of Max cross her mind as a flicker of grief flashed in her brown eyes before she settled back into her seat. Jack turned his head a bit and called over his shoulder,

"Guys?" he gestured them forward and the four of them carefully meandered towards Alice's prone form and she watched them speculatively, eyes gleaming a bit as they grazed over Tooth's luminescent wings and Sandy's sparkling smile. He turned his eyes back to hers and smiled crookedly to ease the tension. "You've already met North," he saw the shadow of North's wave on her face and she gave him a ghost of a smile. "But this is Bunny, Tooth and Sandy. And guys, this is Alice."

"Nice to meet ya, Sheila," Bunny said gruffly though his tone was much lighter considering it wasn't directed towards Jack.

"Um, likewise," Alice said quietly. Jack had a feeling that the overload of information was doing a number on her already stressed mind.

Tooth fluttered around her and Alice watched her with a look of unconcealed awe that no one could really mask when seeing the colorful fairy for the first time. "How are you feeling?" Tooth asked with genuine concern.

"I'm… not too sure," Alice answered carefully. North circled around the group and offered a plate of untouched chocolate chip cookies to her. She eyed the plate warily and North flashed a kind grin.

"Trust me, they will help," he winked and she slowly took one and nibbled on it until an elf approached her and thrust a full glass of milk at her. She eyed the little guy for a good five or six seconds and the elf waved the glass at her impatiently before she took it with a small 'thanks'. She sat the glass in her lap and for the moment didn't drink it.

Her eyes landed on each of the Guardians, excluding Jack as he continued kneeling before her. "I appreciate your hospitality," she said softly. "It really is very nice to meet you all, but I need to find my son," she said earnestly.

"That's what we're here for," Tooth said smilingly and Alice cracked a small smile in return though there wasn't much emotion behind it. Jack nudged her hand with his and gave her a reassuring smile of his own and once they made eye contact she smiled again, this time with a bit more sincerity.

"Well they can work without me at the Warren for a while," Bunny announced to break the ice. "Think we should run by the town first and see if we can catch anything Frosted Flakes might have missed?"

Jack stood slowly and turned to face the other Guardians with a slightly sheepish look on his face. North immediately narrowed his eyes and Bunny glanced at North before turning to face Jack sharply.

"About the town," Jack began carefully. He could feel the dial weighing heavy in his pocket and he shifted a bit. "I may have kind of… frozen it?" he cringed.

"With _ice?_ " Bunny growled.

"No just like…" Jack waved his hand about aimlessly before mentioning in a casual tone, "froze it in time?"

"Oh like that's any better!" Bunny shouted and North's groan was heard over the warrior bunny's complaints as he pinched the bridge of his round nose with his thumb and index finger.

"I let you come with me to visit Father Time once… _once!_ " North lifted a finger in emphasis to prove his point. Tooth glanced between North and Bunny nervously before exchanging a cautious glance with Sandy who shrugged a shoulder half-heartedly.

"You see who you made a Guardian?" Bunny lifted his head, directing his question towards the ceiling as if the Man in the Moon could hear his vexation. "Regretting it now?" he asked sarcastically.

Jack grinded his teeth and grabbed his staff from beside the fireplace, pointing it dangerously at the Pooka. "Hey Bunny," he taunted darkly. "Remember the blizzard of '68? Just _wait_ until the blizzard of 2016."

Bunny bristled at the open threat and opened his mouth to retort but Tooth lifted her hands and stepped between the two like a referee.

"Okay now you're _both_ acting like children," she reprimanded in a motherly tone she typically only reserved for the fairies. "We have more important things to worry about right now so if you could just settle your differences."

Bunny and Jack exchanged heated glares and North stepped forward, holding out his large palm towards Jack who glanced down at it, blinking.

"Give me the dial," North demanded. Jack felt like a child that was being chastised and he had a petulant look on his face to match as he slowly pulled the dial out of his pocket and stiffly handed it to North. North gave him a reproachful look before clasping the dial in his hand tightly and waving his other above the face, dimming the purple constellations that had continued to glow within the dial's center.

"Time has _resumed_ in Burgess, Pennsylvania," North said pointedly. Jack pursed his lips and looked the other way. "Father Time will have to match its time with rest of world now that it is several hours behind. I certainly hope you have not frozen time anywhere else," he said in an accusatory tone and Jack's eyes widened a bit before glancing downward, eyebrows raised.

"You see his face?" Bunny insisted, pointed to the winter spirit with one of his boomerangs. "That's the look of guilt."

"I didn't," Jack exclaimed, hunching his shoulders. When all he received in return were looks of disbelief he repeated more forcefully, "I _didn't_ , okay? Everything's fine," he stressed. They hadn't been in D.C. that long anyway and it was over a month ago. Time magic was usually able to reset itself after a couple of weeks. Or so he hoped. "Let's focus on Max," he said in an effort to distract them from the topic.

"We don't even know who it could've been," Tooth mentioned. "How would we know where to start?"

"You said your Globe couldn't pick up on him?" Bunny clarified and North shook his head. "What kind of magic can hide him from that? Unless he's in a different dimension which would explain it."

"I don't think so," North denied. "Dimension traveling is no easy feat and if someone nearby tried crossing over we would have known. It is much different than using portals here to teleport, like Jack had described."

"Who do we know that can tamper with your magic?" Bunny asked, pointing towards the glittering Globe. His mind seemed to be on the same wavelength as Jack's had been earlier. "Who's been in here before that knows how the thing works?"

Jack bit his lip and pulled on the skin until he irritated it. "Do you think it could've been Pitch?" he asked carefully. He was met with four pairs of eyes and he shrunk beneath their gaze. The Nightmare King was still a sensitive subject, even for them, and it made Jack's skin crawl thinking about him considering his controversial thoughts concerning the boogeyman. "I mean, it could be possible. He's been inside the Pole before, he knows what the Globe is."

"I don't know," Tooth hesitated, wringing her fingers together. The action reminded him of Alice and Jack turned to check up on her. She was gazing between the Guardians with half a cookie in her mouth, listening intently to the conversation without forcing herself into it. She seemed to have calmed down a bit. North's cookies had that effect, plus the glass of milk was half empty. "Pitch has been lying low ever since the incident. I don't think his nightmares ever came back to him once they turned on him. He should still be powerless."

"Unless he found a way to get his powers back," Jack pointed out, unable to deny that it was the best lead they had.

Bunny shrugged, neither accepting nor denying the implications. Sandy seemed troubled at the thought of confronting Pitch again. The two of them shared a connection ever since Pitch manipulated Sandy's dream sand and even though it wasn't a pleasant connection, it nevertheless existed. Jack didn't want Sandy to have to face Pitch again considering what happened last time. He knew better than to underestimate Pitch, even when he was thought to be at a disadvantage.

"It is worth a shot I suppose," North ran a large hand down his face tiredly.

The atmosphere of the room shifted. The bad feeling Jack had been coping with for the past couple of months had increased tenfold.

"I guess it is time we pay our old friend a visit."

* * *

 **A/N** **: I just wanted to say that I had a lot of fun writing the interactions between the Guardians. Bunny is already turning out to be one of my favorite characters to write because he's so dynamic and witty and incredibly sarcastic. Also, it's always sort of been my head canon that even though Jack is a cold body he still has a fiery temper which is both ironic and totally awesome. Heh.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

* * *

Alice was led through a maze of grand, high-ceiling hallways that branched out from the atrium in North's workshop. North commented idly on various paintings that were strung up on the walls as they passed them. Some were portraits of familiar reindeers, others were simply festive winter scenery, and a select few were paintings of North himself. Alice didn't pay much attention to his words as he explained the story behind each painting, but a small smile pulled up at the corners of her lips at the jovial passion in his voice. Without even meaning to, it seemed that his voice alone lightened the heaviness that weighed on her chest.

Eventually they reached a tall archway that housed giant double doors. He pushed open the doors, inviting her into the room that smelled of mint and firewood. There was a large sleigh bed placed on the left side of the room with velvet red sheets and a silky white canopy above hanging from cherry wood support beams. Across from it was a fireplace surrounded by dark stone, extending high into the cathedral ceiling. A single chandelier was suspended from the highest point, candles flickering as the chilling breeze filtered in through a set of small, open glass doors resting adjacent from where Alice and North just entered. They displayed a vast array of sparkling white, extending deep into the horizon beyond a circular balcony.

A small bench rested at the foot of the bed with a few extra blankets stacked precariously on top of it. Nightstands stood on both sides of the head of the bed with stained glass lamps. A vanity was placed near the fireplace and a rocking chair was swaying with the breeze in front of the roaring fire.

Alice didn't quite know what to think of the room. Her mind hadn't really caught up to the fact that she was at the North Pole inside Santa's workshop. Part of her was worried that maybe all of it was a hallucination, like some sort of post-traumatic stress. But then she rationalized that Jack Frost was still very much real and she'd already met North on Christmas Day. She ate Santa's cookies and milk and met the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman. Reciting the events in her head, she realized they were just facts. She didn't have the ability to feel excited about them or revel in the fact that she was living every child's fantasy.

There was still one kid in particular who dreamt of meeting the Guardians and that was exactly why she couldn't react.

"You can stay here for time being," North said, startling her out of her thoughts. Alice faced the jovial man as he glanced about the room before turning his gaze to meet hers. "We don't know if who took Max is coming after you too so better safe than sorry. It is not ideal, I know," he bowed his head apologetically. "But your safety is our top priority along with finding Maximilian."

"Thank you," she said quietly.

She could feel another presence enter the room before the sound of bare feet padding on wood floors reached her ears. She saw a head of silvery hair in her peripherals and watched as Jack stopped a few feet away from her, eyes swimming with emotions she couldn't discern. He exchanged a momentary glance with North, whose eyes narrowed slightly at the winter spirit. The air felt thick for a few seconds before North cleared his throat and the atmosphere lightened again.

"I'll take my leave," he said, giving Alice one last warm smile before trotting out of the room and back down the hall.

Jack pursed his lips, eyes resting on the spot North once occupied before shifting his gaze to meet hers. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as Jack shifted a bit.

"So we think maybe Pitch has something to do with it," he stated suddenly even though she'd already heard their conversation, twisting his staff and thrusting it back and forth between his hands. He didn't refer to the 'it' specifically but she knew what he meant and her back stiffened as it brought her back to reality. The Boogeyman. They thought the Boogeyman had her son. Right. "We're going to go after him, see if we can find anything," by 'anything' he meant Max. "Even if he doesn't have him, there's a pretty good chance he knows where he is or what took him. I'll let you know as soon as we do."

Alice's brows furrowed. "Wait, what do you mean? I'm coming with you," she said, wondering how it escaped his notice that that much was obvious. She wasn't going to let anyone go after her son without her firmly in tow. Max was _hers._ He was _her_ responsibility.

"Um, what?" Jack asked even though it didn't sound much like a question. "No you're not, it's totally not safe."

"Excuse me?" she felt taken aback and a little insulted. "I don't care if it's safe or not, he's _my_ son and I have the right to help find him."

Jack shook his head, eyes squinting. "I don't care, it's too dangerous to have you with us. You could get hurt."

She waved her arms around. "Do I look like I care if I could get hurt or not? Not really on my list of priorities at the moment. If anyone's going to find Max, it's going to be me," she placed a hand on her chest as she glared fiercely at the silver-haired boy.

Jack clenched his jaw and closed his eyes for a second as if to calm himself down. His hands were glowing a pale blue as he gripped his staff tightly. In that moment Alice didn't feel the least bit intimidated. It was a winter spirit against a mother who lost her child. She felt like she could physically fight him if he tried keeping her away from the search. She deserved to be there. She deserved to spend as much time as the world would allow to look for Max because he shouldn't have been taken in the first place. She needed to find him because it was her fault he went missing and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if someone else found him before she did. She had to be the one. She had to.

"It. Is not. Safe," he uttered through gritted teeth. Alice's eyebrows raised in challenge and Jack's eyes narrowed when he saw she wasn't backing down. He licked his lips and settled for a different tactic, "If you come with us you're just going to hold us back. Do you really think we have time to look after you and keep an eye on Pitch _and_ search for Max all at the same time?" she blinked at the harshness of his words but kept her chin held high, masking her expression with indifference and firm resolve. Jack must have realized he hit a nerve because he continued, "Can you fly? Can you defend yourself against someone with magical powers? I don't know, maybe you're Mother Nature or something and just never told me," he snapped and she felt her shoulders sag a bit as she squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to tell herself that what he was saying didn't make sense and that she still had a right to go with them. She tried to tell herself that his words didn't sting. "You'll only be a burden to us if you come. You know you will."

Alice swallowed and felt tears burn her eyes. She knew he was right but she didn't want to admit it out loud. She couldn't bring herself to accept the fact that this was something beyond her mortal self, that she'd only be a hindrance if she tagged along. She couldn't bring herself to admit that this was a fight she would have to stay out of because she was the only one who was supposed to fight for Max. It was her job as his mother to fight for him and she couldn't this time. She wasn't capable of bringing him back and that tore at her heart more than she cared to admit.

Jack softened a bit at the obvious distress that flickered across her face, stiffening her features and making her eyes red-rimmed and glossy. He leaned against his staff because he didn't feel comfortable to physically try and comfort her. He didn't know how to.

"We're going to find him Alice," he said earnestly. She sniffed and nodded but the action held no resolve. She tried telling herself that yes, they would find him and they would bring him back to her, but she couldn't bring herself to believe it. "Even if this comes to a fight, we'll get him back. We won't back down so easily. You're just going to have to trust us."

"So you expect me to just sit here and wait," she said. It sounded like it was meant to be a question but her tone of voice suggested she was dully repeating what he already told her.

"It's the safest place for you," Jack said again. "I don't think you should go back home right now. We really don't know if what got Max is looking to get you too. I'm not willing to risk it," he told her and she felt a hint of gratitude at the fact that he was keeping her best interests at heart but it was immediately overshadowed by the reminder that they were going to look for Max while she just stayed behind and twiddled her thumbs. Useless.

She crossed her arms again and looked the other way because she felt too cowardly to look at him even though his eyes were boring holes into the side of her face in open concern.

"What do you expect me to do about everyone else? My work, his school, our family. They're going to wonder where we are."

Jack contemplated the question. "You have your phone, right?"

She absently dabbed her front and back pockets, idly remembering when she dropped the phone back at the house because she was panicking. She opened her mouth to tell him she didn't have it but she felt the square outline of it resting in her back pocket and she pulled it out in surprise. She couldn't recall picking it back up. Though, in her defense, there were a lot of things she didn't remember about the past few hours. Something about her mind repressing the bad memories to refrain from stressing her out and keeping her sane. She remembered reading about stuff like that in her Psychology class in high school.

"Great," Jack perked up once he saw the device in her hand. "Just call everyone and give them an excuse that would keep you out of work and him out of school for a few days. Maybe something that would take you out of town? So your aunt and uncle don't worry about not seeing you."

Alice bit the inside of her cheek. "I guess I'll think of something," she said softly.

Jack's eyebrows crinkled and he took a careful step forward to place a hand on her shoulder, stroking the fabric of her jacket with gentle fingers. "Hey," he said quietly. "It's going to be okay. I know this is hard for you and I get it, but we're going to figure it out."

Alice felt her lower lip tremble as the weight of the day's events began to weigh heavy in the pit of her stomach. "If anything happens to him…" she shook her head, eyes finally meeting his with a look so intense and somber that he had to jerk his head back a bit.

"It won't," he said. He sounded so sure of himself and she wished she had that kind of resolve. "We'll get him back. I promise, Alice."

"Don't," she said suddenly. Jack frowned and she shook her head again. "Please don't make promises you can't keep."

Maybe it was the exhausted way she held herself, like she'd somehow already given up even though they hadn't even started, or the broken way her voice expelled the words she spoke. Regardless, Jack felt a determination swelling within him that he hadn't felt since he first tried finding ways to get Jamie to believe in him.

"I don't," he told her seriously.

She gazed at him and their eyes connected, holding the stare as the world around them seemed to shift. Wordlessly, she was putting her faith in him to bring her son back. She was trusting him to find Max and even though she wasn't fully sure she could put that kind of trust in him, she accepted the fact that she didn't have much of a choice. And she figured that out of all the people or creatures in the world, he was probably one of the few who intended to keep their word.

But whether he could or not was another thing entirely.

"Call your aunt and whoever else you need to," Jack said, squeezing her shoulder and pulling her out of her poisonous thoughts. "As soon as we hear anything, I'll come to you. Promise."

Jack hesitated for a moment before he made to step closer to her and Alice couldn't explain it but her mind forced her to take a step back and out of his reach. She couldn't tell if he was aiming to hug her or squeeze her other shoulder or what it was, but she just couldn't.

"Thanks Jack," she muttered and she had the good nature of appearing somewhat apologetic by avoiding his advances.

Jack nodded to himself and stepped back again, his hand feeling oddly cold as it dropped from her shoulder. "Right," he said, clenching his fist and forcefully pulling it down to his side. He nodded a bit and gave her a tight smile before turning on the balls of his heels and slowly making his way out of the room.

Alice bit her bottom lip so hard she almost drew blood. "And Jack?" she called, stopping the winter spirit just as he reached the threshold of the grand doorway. He turned to face her with an expectant look on his face, staff tossed over his shoulder. She bit her lip again and wringed her fingers nervously. "Please be careful," she said, unsure of what else she could say.

A small smile pulled up at the corners of his lips and he gave her a single nod before continuing out of the room and down the corridor where she could hear the idle chatter of the other Guardians as they waited for his return.

She felt rooted to the spot and the only thing that enabled her to move was when the air pulsed and the Guardians teleported out of the workshop. She sighed heavily, leaning forward to brace her hands on her knees as she tried to steady her breathing. She could feel her heart hammering painfully in her chest, threatening to make her feel dizzy and disoriented but she swallowed the feeling down and sniffed her tears away before they could fall.

A grunt echoed from the doorway and startled her upright. A large creature, furry and brown with beady eyes and burly shoulders peeked in at her from the doorframe and she had to force the scream down her throat before she scared both it and herself. It watched her for a few moments before disappearing back around the wall and out of sight, aside from its looming shadow that cascaded over the floor in the threshold. It must have been assigned to watch her.

She sighed again and ran a hand down her face in exhaustion. The bed looked incredibly inviting but she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep even if she tried. Her mind was racing too fast for her to keep up and she didn't see a nap anywhere in her future, as appealing as one sounded. She figured it'd been at least eighteen hours or so since she last slept.

Alice slowly made her way towards the rocking chair that was nestled in front of the fire. She deposited herself bodily onto it and allowed it to rock her for a few moments as she watched the flames dance within the hearth of the mantle.

She glanced down at the phone that continued to rest in her hand and with an unsteady breath, she opened up her contacts and began scrolling through the list. It didn't take long before she reached Aunt Liza's name and she selected it, thumb hovering over the phone icon. She couldn't tell her that they were visiting her parents because she was under the impression that Aunt Liza chatted with her sister on a regular basis and she was well attuned to the fact that her sister and niece weren't on the best of terms. She'd most likely call to verify the visit.

She couldn't say that her and Max took a spontaneous vacation because that would just be impractical. She had work and he had school and winter vacation was almost up. She needed a good, believable excuse for them to just up and leave with no warning.

Licking her lips, she sucked in a deep breath before pressing the dial button and holding the phone up to her ear. Based on the fact that it was early in the morning, she knew her aunt would most likely be on her way to work and unable to pick up the phone. That worked out in her favor because she didn't want to have to actually speak to her. She didn't know how convincing she'd be able to sound if she heard her aunt's voice. She didn't know if she'd be able to hold herself together.

Once the automated message rang asking to leave a voicemail, Alice cleared her throat and the familiar beep droned.

"Hey Aunt Liza it's me, um," she winced and pursed her lips. "There was a sudden appeal of my case with Max and I've been asked to fly back to Ohio with him to get it all taken care of. It was pretty last minute, we're actually getting ready to board the plane now," she eyed her surroundings absently, watching as the curtains blew in tune with the chilly breeze as it pierced through the open doors.

She felt guilty having to lie to her aunt and anxious that she'd be able to see through the façade but she quickly pushed the worries aside.

"Don't worry, had enough money in my savings for a red eye. I called Max out of school for the week and my work was really understanding, so. Yeah. Hopefully all of this can be taken care of soon so I can bring Max back home," she placed her fingers over her eyes as if to physically hold back the waterworks. She had to swallow in order to avoid clearing her throat because her voice was threatening to crack. She just wanted to collapse into a tiny ball and sob. "Um. Okay. Love you, talk to you soon."

She quickly hung up the phone and dropped it in her lap before covering her face with her hands. A choked sob was muffled in her palms and she breathed shakily as her chest wracked with uneasy palpitations, alternating between gasping for air and vibrating with unwavering cries that echoed in the silent room. She felt broken.

* * *

Jack felt vaguely sick as he was forced through one of North's portals. He landed less than gracefully on the grass just outside the woods on the edge of Burgess. He paused for a moment on his hands and knees as his equilibrium tried to right itself and he didn't feel so nauseous like he'd been stretched across the continent.

North landed brusquely next to him and Tooth and Sandy appeared on his other side as Bunny emerged through one of his tunnels. With a muffled groan, Jack picked himself up and stepped forward to grab his staff that landed a few feet away. When he held it in his grasp, he turned around to face the trees that loomed above them. There were a few wayward leaves clinging to the branches with what little ounce of energy they had left and melted snow coated the ground in slippery puddles and clumps beneath the trunks.

Jack recognized the trail that led to Pitch's lair, remembering quite vividly that it wasn't too far of a walk through the woods. He turned back to face the others who had congregated in a small group behind him. North pulled his swords free from their scabbards that were strapped to his back and examined the shiny blades. Tooth seemed tense as she fluttered a few inches off the ground but for the most part Bunny and Sandy were indifferent as they watched the trees, though Sandy's eyes were quite shifty as he waited for someone to speak.

"So what's the plan?" Jack asked, gripping his staff tightly and feeling the wind gliding around his ankles as if waiting for instructions to thrust him off the ground.

North quickly replaced his swords and adjusted his red coat. "Plan is simple," he announced. He glanced towards Bunny and Sandy. "We will interrogate Pitch and you and Tooth will go to girl's house and search for evidence."

Jack didn't speak for a second as he thrust his head forward, contemplating if he heard the man right. "Wait what?" he asked when it registered in his brain that North was finished speaking. "No, I have every intention of interrogating Pitch with you if it's all the same to you," he stated, jaw taut. Just because he felt a bit sorry for the Nightmare King did not mean that he wouldn't unleash a world of hurt if he ended up being Max's kidnapper. He thoroughly planned to stick around to find out the truth and his staff hummed beneath his fingers at the thought of a good fight.

"You are only one who knows where girl lives," North sounded exasperated. "It's best to check area of kidnapping in case anything was left behind that may give us a clue of who took the boy."

"That doesn't make any sense," Jack squinted, irritation bubbling in the pit of his stomach. "You've been to her house before when you delivered the presents. And what kind of evidence do you expect me to find? The window broke," Jack rattled off on his fingers. "We ran into the room, Max was gone. What else is there?"

"I have _routes_ to take when I deliver presents. I may remember names, but I do not remember locations," North said pointedly and Jack rolled his eyes.

"Some magical beings leave fingerprints behind," Tooth intercepted before an argument could break out. Jack glanced over at her, glare intact. "Not the kind of fingerprints humans have. It's kind of different," she gave a half shrug and a sensitive smile. "It's always worth a shot to look."

"She's right," Bunny said and Jack scoffed because of course Bunny would agree to something Jack didn't just to spite him. "We've got to explore all our options, mate. If you want to find the kid you've got to look everywhere. No need to go in half-cocked and ready to dish out punches when you haven't checked everywhere else first," the Pooka crossed his arms over his furry chest. "As hard as it's gotta be for you, you need to think rationally."

"Was that an insult?" Jack asked rhetorically, tilting his head up as if the sky had all the answers. "I'm pretty sure that was an insult. Which means this is entirely justified," he then pointed his staff towards Bunny and a beam of frost emitted from the tip, nailing the warrior bunny in the face and causing him to sputter and flail.

"Now is not the time!" North bellowed, balling his hands into fists. "This is why we always need to separate you two. This is last time I say this: Jack and Tooth, search girl's house. Bunny and Sandy, come with me to visit Pitch."

With that, North began stomping with a purpose towards the line of tall pine trees and leaving no room for complaints. Bunny huffed and gave Jack a _this-isn't-over_ glare before bounding after the jolly man and leaving Sandy to shrug pathetically at Jack's heated scowl. The sandman hopped onto his golden sand cloud and floated after the two and Tooth was left to flutter awkwardly next to Jack as he cursed beneath his breath and flexed his hands that were sparkling with frost.

Once the flare of adrenaline eased out of his system, Jack lifted his head to meet Tooth's gaze. She gave him somewhat of a half-smile and lifted a shoulder in compromise.

"Want to show me where she lives?"

With a sigh and one last scowl at the border of the woods the other Guardians had disappeared into, Jack commanded the wind and he was tossed in the air. Tooth's luminescent wings flapped madly as she thrust forward to catch up with him and Jack led the way to Alice's house. He didn't have to think about where she lived, knew he could probably find his way to her house in his sleep, so he spent the majority of the flight silently steaming about the fact that he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Hunting down Pitch.

He lowered his altitude slowly to give Tooth warning before plummeting towards the ground and planting his feet on the path before Alice's front door. Tooth joined him a few seconds later. Jack made for the door but quickly backtracked once he remembered he locked it on his way out and ambled for the side of the house where the bedroom window was still very much missing. Jack's gut twisted in worry as he hoped no one saw the obvious opportunity to sneak into the house and steal something valuable. That was mainly why he'd frozen time, so no one would have been able to.

Wordlessly, Jack climbed through the window, cringing when his bare feet landed on the shards of broken glass.

"Watch your footing," he said tonelessly, knowing that Tooth probably wouldn't physically set a single foot inside the house. His theory was proved right when he glanced over his shoulder and saw her shiny wings fluttering and carrying her around the room a few inches above him, eyeing the broken glass with unconcealed disturbance.

They silently began to scour the room for anything odd or out of place that might point them in the right direction of who took Max. Jack shuffled around near the bed, checking underneath for anything that might have fallen and looking behind the nightstand that rested to the left of the window's ledge. Tooth examined the other side of the room and they mostly kept to themselves until Jack couldn't contain his annoyance any longer.

"I shouldn't be here," he said roughly, tossing a pillow out of his way with a bit more force than necessary. Tooth glanced over at him from her perch near the dresser and threw him a curious look. "I should be with North and the others," he elaborated, leaning against the bed as his eyes gazed over the faint outline of a small body that was still imprinted in the sheets where Max once laid. "Pitch has to know something. It's the only thing that makes sense. And if he took Max…" Jack had to swallow the rage pooling in his throat. He still wanted to hit something. Maybe if he'd just stayed a little longer by the woods and punched a few trees to rid himself of the adrenaline. "I feel like it's my fault that Max was taken and if Pitch was the one who did it, I want to be there when he admits it so I can hit him. Hard and repeatedly. And then get Max back."

"Not the best at bargaining, are you?" Tooth asked with a soft hint of amusement in her voice. Jack huffed a snort and gripped the sheets tighter in his pale fists. The fairy studied him for a moment. "Why do you think it's your fault?"

"Because I was with her," he hissed. "I was distracting her. She should have been with Max. He was scared of all the storms and needed her by his side so he could sleep. But since I was there, she was with me instead," he shook his head in regret, grinding his teeth. "We only left him alone for ten minutes tops, but it ended up being just enough time for something to get him."

There was a beat of silence. "You didn't know Max was going to get taken," Tooth tried to reassure him and he couldn't help but notice the edge in her voice. It was like the conversation was making her feel uncomfortable, like it was odd for her to try and comfort him. Jack supposed it was because she never actually had to comfort him before.

"That's not entirely true," Jack admitted and he could feel Tooth's piercing gaze on his forehead as he continued to avoid eye contact. "Alice told me that Max saw something in his window the other night. He said something was looking right at him with bright, glowing eyes. It scared him and it was one of the reasons he didn't want to sleep alone. He was afraid something was going to take him," he felt guiltier the longer he kept talking and he squeezed the bedsheets tighter in his fists. "And look what happened," he mocked with a wry smile.

Tooth seemed stunned to hear that someone was watching Max before the kidnapping, but nothing about the thing's appearance seemed to register anything recognizable in her mind so she didn't comment on it.

"That still doesn't mean it's your fault," she stated firmly. "You had no way of knowing that something was going to attack that night. You said it yourself, he was only left alone for ten minutes. And he was in the house. At home. Somewhere most would typically deem safe," her voice was soothing but also firm, leaving no room for arguing. "You had no way of knowing that something was going to break in. You'd have to be able see the future and even though you are many things, Jack Frost," there was an underlying sense of innocent teasing in her tone of voice. "I don't believe psychic is one of them."

They were quiet for a few minutes and Jack idly wondered if Tooth had gone back to searching through the room. Her words did little to soothe his inner turmoil but he appreciated the effort even though he didn't speak his gratitude out loud.

He pushed himself away from the bed and shook the dangerous thoughts that were swimming around inside his head. Thoughts of guilt, of berating himself, of wondering if Alice blamed him too, or worse… if she blamed herself.

"What exactly am I supposed to be looking for?" Jack threw his arms up as he twisted every which way, doing what he did best as he avoided the conversation they just had as if it never happened. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the room besides the broken glass and flurrying curtains that were stained from the elements outside. "What kind of fingerprints do magical beings leave?"

"Well," she sang quietly and buzzed over to where he was standing facing the window. There were bits of jagged glass still connected to the window frame towards the top corner and Jack's gaze was momentarily distracted by the reflections in the glass. "Sometimes they leave behind a piece of their magic. Most creatures don't even realize they do it and you probably don't realize you do it either. But sometimes a piece of our magic embeds itself in its surroundings. It could be something invisible, like an actual fingerprint, or it could be something you just have to look really hard to find. But all magic leaves behind something. If it's dark magic, it leaves behind these wounds that can sometimes get infected. Like the dark magic is eating away at whatever it's implanted in. That's what we're looking for."

"Vague and maddeningly unhelpful, sounds about right," he nodded sardonically with pursed lips and Tooth had the courtesy to ignore the backhanded comment in favor of heading towards the doorway.

"I'm going to check the rest of the house," she said and disappeared through the hallway without waiting for a response.

Jack slammed his hand against the window frame, feeling the wood crack beneath the pressure and leaving splinters underneath his palm. He clenched his jaw before pulling his hand away and ignoring the obvious indent he left in the frame and the bruising pain that stung at the base of his hand.

"Hopefully North is having better luck than we are," he muttered to himself before grudgingly continuing his search.

* * *

North peered down into the dark depths of the narrow hole that was carved out of the ground underneath a rickety iron bed. They were standing in a small clearing towards the center of the woods and nature was quiet around them. No sounds of birds chirping or rustling leaves considering the time of the year. It set the three of them on edge and they didn't have to mention it out loud to understand that the silence had to have been some sort of omen.

The jolly man hesitated for a brief moment, weighing his options, before he tapped the edge of the hole with his large boot. A few pieces of dirt broke off from the pressure and tumbled down into the hole, leaving a small cloud of dust in their wake. He cringed and took a step back, wondering if he should call down into the hole for Pitch and demand he meet them outside.

Bunny gave him an unimpressed look as if he'd been reading the man's thoughts.

"I think we can dispense with the niceties, North," Bunny deadpanned before pouncing in through the open hole without caring for an invitation.

North felt exasperated at the lack of tact but Sandy gave him his signature shrug before taking of in a glittery cloud of gold smoke down into the hole. North sighed and relented, gaining his bearings before jumping down into the hole after them. He couldn't suppress the yell that forced itself through his windpipe as his stomach lodged itself in his throat before he landed with a hefty grunt at the base of the cavern, coughing a bit at the dirt that sprang into his eyes and mouth. Bunny was dusting himself off, having gotten quite used to jumping into deep holes over the years and Sandy hadn't even broken a sweat in his calm drift down into the abyss.

Feeling disgruntled, North hoisted himself up and brushed some of the dirt off his coat before marching after Bunny who began stalking down the nearest corridor with his boomerangs in hand. Or paw, rather. North followed his example and pulled his swords out, holding them protectively in front of himself as he inched through a narrow passageway in the underground tunnel. The air was moist and thick, making North feel as though it was cutting off the oxygen to his brain and making him feel disoriented, but he kept onward with a determined stomp in his step.

"Pitch!" he bellowed once they reached the threshold of the passageway, entering a much larger room that extended high into a great chasm with stalagmites protruding from the ground in threatening spikes and stalactites dangling from the rocky ceiling. It made North feel caged in and Bunny tossed him an incredulous look over his shoulder at the obvious announcement of their presence and North shook his head, waving Bunny's concerns away because Pitch was bound to find out they were invading his territory at some point. It was better to get it over with rather than hold out on the inevitable.

North's voice bounced off the walls, vibrating in their spines at the great volume but they were met with no response.

"Hey Pitch, pizza delivery!" Bunny shouted, thumping one of his boomerangs against his paw in a threatening manner as if the act alone would intimidate Pitch out of hiding.

After their ears ceased their ringing from the relentless echoing and heard no other noise, North was beginning to wonder if their visit had been rendered moot. He exchanged wary glances with Sandy who was floating nearby on his dream sand with a skeptical look in his eye. North opened his mouth, ready to suggest that maybe Pitch just wasn't home, but the three of them were startled by the sound of a gratingly familiar voice.

"Oh what the bloody hell do you lot want?" came Pitch's whining tone as if he just couldn't get the Guardians off his back.

The three of them whipped around to face the direction his voice came, adopting defensive positions as the cloaked Boogeyman stood with his hands behind his back in the threshold of another passageway a few feet to their right. He looked the same as he did the last time North had seen him – greying skin shadowed by darkness that loomed around the edges of his jawline and cheekbones, a ring of glimmering yellow surrounding his pupils, narrowed into slits like a reptile that was stalking its prey. He looked ever the part of a monster creeping through the night, slithering through the dark with flashing eyes that glinted in the moonlight. Worthy of scaring unsuspecting children in the middle of the night, North would presume.

He raised his eyebrows at their defensive statures and released a mocking laugh that could curdle milk. "I don't remember inviting everyone over for a hunting party. Sorry, it must be such a bother coming all this way. It really is nice to see the gang back together. Well," he countered with a tilt of his head. "Most of the gang, anyway."

"Enough with the chitchat, Pitch," Bunny growled, raising a boomerang at the Nightmare King in attempt to deter him from making any sudden attacks. "We're here for the kid."

Pitch adapted an innocent expression. "Whatever are you talking about? There haven't been any children here for some time. If you have the brain capacity to remember that far back, you took my powers, did you not? As much as I would love to have children cowering in my lair, I'm going to have to disappoint you."

"A boy has gone missing," said North, metaphorically stepping between Bunny and Pitch before a war could erupt. "Quite young, blonde hair and blue eyes—"

"I'm sorry, I don't know where Snowflake has run off to at the moment but if I see him I'll be sure to let him know you're worried. He's so disobedient, that one; enjoys staying out after curfew just to prove that he's capable of bending the rules. Do send him my regards if you find him, though," Pitch smirked in mock sympathy.

"We are not talking about Jack, Pitch!" North barked, waving one of his swords at the Boogeyman in warning to keep his distance. As it would seem, Pitch didn't appear to have any interest in moving from his current spot. He was watching them with an entertained smile, as if they were playing a ridiculously amusing prank on him. "He is a young boy, no older than seven. He was taken last night, house broken into."

"Wouldn't happen to know anything about that would ya, Edward Cullen?"

North didn't seem to understand the joke but Pitch narrowed his eyes in Bunny's direction, though his entertained smile did not waver.

"No, I'm afraid I don't," Pitch said, ever the image of naivety.

"Funny," Bunny sneered. "Because North isn't able to track the kid on his Globe which means someone's got him hidden and you're the only one who's been inside the workshop besides us who knows how the thing works."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it's so," snapped Bunny, fur rising along his spine in unbridled irritation. "Let's cut the bullshit and stop assuming that you're the picture of innocence here because I'm sure you've found a way to get your powers back by now. Unless that's just out of your range of ability which, don't get me wrong, wouldn't surprise me in the least but I tend to see the best in people," he shrugged with a spiteful grin. "Call it a weakness."

Pitch's lip curled and he seemed to be through with the playful act. "Do I look like I have my powers back you sniveling, insufferable idiot?" he spat. Bunny seemed momentarily taken aback by the fierce name-calling and his ears nearly folded down to his head before he barred his teeth. "Do you think I'd be spending all my time down here cowering in the dark if I did? Do you really think that's something I enjoy doing in my free time?" Pitch thrust his arms outward, gesturing to the dank getup he was surrounding with as if the answer were obvious. "I _did_ have a plan, if you must know, but that's kind of gone topside at the moment considering I _still don't have them_ ," he snarled with a feral look in his eye. North half expected him to start foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal. "I'm fairly certain you would know if I did because I have more than earned the right to deliver some hearty payback after the way you treated me."

"Quit being so dramatic," Bunny said, staring down at Pitch as if he were the scum of the Earth or the dirt on his paws. "Stop trying to make us sound like the bad guys here. You were the one torturing innocent kids, mate. _That_ one is on _you_."

"This is all beside the point!" North waved his arms around to gain their attention. His usual jolly features were wrinkled up in annoyance and two sets of eyes turned on him. North leveled Pitch with a steely glare. "Have you seen child or not?"

" _Not_ ," Pitch answered snidely.

Bunny rounded on him with his boomerangs at the ready. "Why is it that I don't believe you?"

"You have unbearable trust issues?" Pitch asked sardonically.

"I'm gonna hit him," Bunny threatened as if it were North's queue to hold him back in case he actually went through with it. Judging by the way his arms were shaking, North figured it was safe to assume he was strongly considering it. North accepted the opportunity and held a cautionary sword in front of Bunny to block his rage-induced path.

"Let us just take step back and not do something we regret," North advised wisely, earning an incensed look from Sandy who continued floating nearby with a wad of dream sand hovering above his outstretched palm in case he needed to use it.

"Oh brilliant," Pitch praised, tone dripping with infuriating sarcasm as he clasped his hands together. "Santa Claus is protecting me, I feel _ever_ so grateful."

North squinted at him. "Do you want me to let him hit you?" he challenged and Pitch's eye twitched. "If what you say is true about not having powers, I would assume that would be highly unwise on your part."

Pitch relented with a roll of his eyes and Bunny breathed heavily through his nose at North's left as he watched the Boogeyman hold his hands up in a pacifying manner. North forcefully thrust his sword further in front of Bunny when he saw his boomerangs twitch and Bunny slapped the sword out of his way with a growl, though lowered his weapons after a minute of melting Pitch's skin off with his eyes.

"Now," North spoke up once everyone seemed to calm down for the moment. "Let's assume for time being that Pitch did not take child—…"

"That is what I said, isn't it?" Pitch retorted.

"Shut up," North narrowed his eyes and Pitch smacked his lips but didn't say another word. "If we assume you did not kidnap boy, then do you know who did?" he asked, enunciating each word carefully as if speaking to a toddler.

Pitch pursed his lips. "Why does everyone always assume I have something to do with things involving children?"

Bunny hummed. "Let's just say you have a knack for ruining people's lives on a daily basis."

Pitch gave him an unimpressed look. "Now who's being dramatic?"

"Do you know who took him?" North shouted over the incessant bickering. "Time is of the essence. A child's life is at stake and whether that is important to you or not, it is to us as well as it is to child's mother," he stressed, hoping to somehow convey through his eyes that this was a serious situation. He hoped that maybe his tone would somehow break through the emotionless wall of Pitch's black heart and elicit some sort of sympathy or any shred of humanity he had left. "All we need is a name."

Pitch stared at him with an unreadable expression but his gaze didn't falter as he said carefully, "I don't know who took him."

North furrowed his eyebrows, trying to decode that weird look on his face and if it'd somehow prove that the Nightmare King was lying but he didn't get very far before Bunny was hissing again.

"I don't think we threatened him enough," he said, lifting a boomerang as if taking aim.

"Technically you didn't threaten me at all," Pitch uttered as if his mouth didn't have a filter and Bunny's chest rumbled with another growl.

"That can be arranged," and the next minute the warrior bunny was face to face with the Boogeyman, eyes sharp and murderous and Pitch shouted, "hey, hey, hey!" as the tip of the boomerang was pressed against his throat, brushing against the tender flesh every time he swallowed.

North jumped forward with Sandy hot on his heels as he attempted to pull the Pooka away before he ended up killing him. Bunny fought against North's restraining hands, knocking against the sword North hadn't had the time to sheath and causing it clatter loudly on the stone ground beneath them. North grunted and forcefully wrestled Bunny away from Pitch who was gazing on with blinking eyes and rubbing his long fingers along the skin of his neck.

"You want a threat, mate?" Bunny taunted. "I'll give you a threat!"

"This is not helping," North protested, pulling Bunny back a few feet. He shoved him off to the side and into Sandy's awaiting lasso that wrapped around his torso and held him in place. North ran a tired hand through his beard and retrieved his sword before Pitch got any ideas. He held it casually in front of himself to keep up appearances though he didn't actually believe he would need to use it. Panting a bit at the fight Bunny put up, North trained his exasperation on Pitch. "Do you have _any_ useful information for us? Any idea who could have taken him?"

"This was a waste of time," Bunny jeered from his rigid position in Sandy's dream sand. He seemed annoyed at having to be restrained but he didn't necessarily fight to free himself either.

"No, I don't who did it, okay? Do you have all the information you came for now?" Pitch waved his arms at them as if shooing away a diseased stray dog. "Can you leave now?"

"You didn't give us _any_ information you spineless—…!"

"Bunnymund, _enough_ ," North held his hand up and commanded the warrior bunny silent. He received a heated glare in return but his orders were followed nonetheless. He then turned to Pitch who was staring at Bunny like one would stare at a wounded animal they felt sorry for but didn't bother trying to save. "Yes, we got what we came for. We're leaving now," he said pointedly, directing his words towards Bunny even though his gaze was held firmly on Pitch. He backed away and thrust a hand towards Sandy. "Come."

Pitch suffered one last glare from Bunny before the three Guardians made their way out of the cavern, Pitch's emotionless smile following them all the way out to the surface.

* * *

"This is useless!" Jack yelled, kicking Alice's bedside. The damage was mostly done on his toes and he winced a bit but the anger he felt boiling in his blood didn't cease. "There's nothing here!" he tossed the comforter off the bed for good measure, breathing deeply as he stared at the headboard.

Tooth had returned to the bedroom not long after she thoroughly searched the house for any clues or prints that were left behind. Unsurprisingly she came up empty-handed and the thought that they'd ransacked the entire house for nothing nearly sent him over the edge. Tooth understood that his emotions were running haywire ever since Max's disappearance and she was able to tolerate and sometimes even lighten the mood swings, but it was clearly taking its toll on her mentality as she rubbed her feathery temple with her fingers.

"At least we looked," she tried in vain because he huffed not two seconds after the words slipped through her lips. "The second we didn't check there would have been evidence left behind. At least we nipped that one in the bud," she said sternly and it made Jack halt a bit in his endeavor to piss himself and anyone else around him off as her tone was probably the harshest he'd ever heard coming from her, which wasn't saying much considering how soft-spoken she was a hundred and nine percent of the time.

"I just…" he wiped both his hands down his face, stretching the skin as his palms ran down his cheeks roughly. He worried his bottom lip as he pulled his hands away, clenching them into fists and leaving crescent-shaped indents in the skin as his nails pressed into the flesh. "I just hate having to go back there and telling Alice that we didn't find anything. I don't know how she's going to react. I don't…" he stopped himself, feeling a lump gather in his throat and he had to wait a moment before he could swallow it down. "I don't know how she's going to take it. I can't go back there without making some sort of progress. I can't let her down like that," he ran a hand through his hair causing a few strands to stick up at odd ends, making him appear younger than he was.

It made Tooth smile fondly at him, if only for a brief second.

"You tried and it's the thought that counts."

He snorted. "That's not enough. That's… that's nothing. That gets us nowhere. We might as well have not tried at all unless we have something to show for it."

Tooth sighed and let him believe what he wished because she didn't seem to have the energy to argue with him anymore.

Jack tried glancing about the room one more time, just _one_ more time in case there was anything obvious he could have missed, but he'd been staring at the room for a good half hour now and he almost felt like he'd rather toss himself off a cliff than have to stick around any longer. It was stifling in the house despite the obvious breeze fluttering in through the open window and he felt like he was going to lose his mind if he didn't get out of there soon.

"Let's just go," he muttered, considering picking up the comforter just so it wouldn't be on the floor when she came back but not having it in him to actually go forth with the action. He turned before Tooth could say anything and made for the window, treading lightly over the shards of glass and stopping short at the ledge before lifting himself up and over the frame, landing lightly in the grass on the other side. He waited for Tooth to catch up, could hear her tiny wings flapping on the other side of the room, and he licked his lips in anticipation, hoping the others had better news than they did. Though, considering the circumstances, it wouldn't necessarily be news they wanted to hear.

Jack made to back up and give the fairy space to fly through the window when something glittery caught his eye. He paused, halfway through turning around to face away from the house, and he narrowed his eyes at the dull but clearly visible mark that was imprinted on the windowsill just shy of the frame. He stepped closer to the window, holding a hand up when Tooth made to flutter through the air beside him. He squinted, unable to see too well as the murky clouds prevented him from any useful visibility and unfortunately his Guardianship didn't provide him with super eyesight. Against his better judgement, the mark looked like an oddly-shaped handprint. And usually a handprint couldn't be left in wood unless it was severely rotted and decayed (which it was not) but it seemed to have burned some sort of marking in the wood.

And strangely enough, it looked like it was coated in flecks of gold.

Tooth was giving him a questioning look as she watched him peer at the base of the windowsill and he gestured her forward, stepping out of the way so she could come through the window.

"Take a look at this," he said. She buzzed through the window and came to stand at his right, bending down a bit to get a clean look at the mark. She made a curious hum in the back of her throat as she spotted it and leveled her face with the print.

"That's interesting," she noted.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Does it look familiar to you at all?"

Her delicate eyebrows were furrowed and she shook her head. "No, but… is that what I think it is?" she asked. "Is that gold?"

"Looks like," Jack said. He wasn't an expert on what real gold looked like but it was the only obvious explanation he could think of it. Not that it was a logical one, but who said their situation made any sort of sense?

Tooth peeled away a small piece of the wood with gold speckled on it. "No harm in taking a sample," she lifted the offending piece and stood straight, wings flitting to life behind her and lifting her a foot off the ground. It brought the piece eye level with Jack and he gazed at it in muddled confusion. "That really is gold," she said, sounding shocked.

"Think it was a leprechaun looking for his pot of gold?" he asked, attempting to make light of the situation but Tooth didn't seem to view the question as such because she shook her head gravely.

"I wouldn't rule it out. Leprechauns are notoriously known for their love of gold. They practically go hand in hand."

Jack blinked. It's not that he didn't believe in the existence of leprechauns. He'd crossed paths with a few of them, most of which were decidedly unpleasant experiences he didn't wish to relive. They had short tempers and despised strangers. They were greedy and possessive of any items they deemed of great value and were nearly impossible to work with, not that he ever tried to directly but he heard stories. He sincerely hoped that wasn't what they were dealing with because he didn't know if he'd have the patience. Not that they were terribly hard to find. It'd been raining for days. All they needed to do was find a rainbow and follow it to the end.

"We should head back to the workshop," Tooth broke him out of his trance and Jack shook the thoughts away. "Hopefully they're back by now and have something more useful to tell us."

She kept a hold of the piece of wood as they flew back north. It didn't escape Jack's notice that he once again drew the short straw because neither of them had any snow globes nor helpfully fast methods of transportation. The travel was cut in half in comparison to when he flew with Alice because he didn't have her extra weight added to the equation but it wasn't any less annoying.

They reached the Pole in record time and when Jack was about to fly down to the back entrance where he arrived last time, Tooth continued on. With a curious tilt of his head, Jack quickly caught up with her as she spiraled around the mountain pass and dove down towards the atrium's sparkling roof. There was a small opening towards the top and she quickly darted through it.

"I'll be damned," Jack murmured as he followed her. He wondered if that spot was always open or if it was just because North expected the other Guardians to be dashing in and out of the workshop and he wanted to give them easy access.

Obviously the other three were already there when he and Tooth arrived. Bunny was pacing angrily back and forth, ignoring North who was seemingly trying to ease his frustration with a finger on his temple a few feet away. Sandy was glancing between the two as if he were entranced in a vicious tennis match.

"Was it Pitch? Did he do anything?" Jack demanded the second his feet touched the ground. Bunny visibly tensed at the mention of the Boogeyman and Jack's eyes flicked anxiously between him and North.

"Bah!" Bunny tossed his long arms in the air before slinking away in a fitful of furry rage.

Jack's eyes followed his retreating form before circling back to North's exhausted face. "What does that mean?" he tossed a thumb over his shoulder. "I don't know what that means."

"It means Bunny is unable to control his anger," North stated, ignoring the muffled 'I heard that!' from off in the distance. He waved his beefy hand in the direction Bunny's voice came as if to physically brush the words away. "Pitch did not take Maximillian nor does he know who did. We are back at square one unless you two found something."

Jack's hopes hadn't been too high to begin with but he still felt them sink down to his feet at the fact that they had literally nothing to go on. He almost felt like storming off much like Bunny had but he refrained in fear of North pulling his swords on him for acting 'childish'. Instead, he stuck with crossing his arms across his chest like a petulant child and looked the other way, jaw tense. He had no idea what he was going to tell Alice.

"Well we did find _some_ thing," Tooth mentioned hesitantly, outstretching her tiny hand towards North with the piece of wood resting in the center. The flecks of gold glittered off the decorations in the atrium, casting small orbs of light along the ceiling like a little disco ball. North's forehead creased in curiosity as he carefully extracted the wood from her palm. "Not sure what it is or if it's anything to go on really," she chuckled nervously, running her fingers over the feathers on her head. "But there was a handprint on the window where whatever it was broke through to take Max. It was covered in gold," she fluttered anxiously around him as North examined the piece of wood that looked more like a splinter in his large hand. "Does it look like anything you might recognize?"

"I don't think so," he said and Jack hissed, tugging at the silvery hair on top of his head in aggravation until his scalp was sore.

"Fucking great," he said, causing North and Tooth to glance at him in surprise. He almost expected them to berate him for his language but he honestly didn't even care. "Just fucking fantastic. We have no leads."

"This is better than nothing," Tooth reminded him, voice gentle again now that she'd had some time to recover from his earlier spats.

"It practically _is_ nothing," he snapped. "What use is a gold handprint going to do if we don't even know who it belongs to?" Jack could almost feel the steam coming out his ears as his body temperature rose. His fingers threatened to expel a blast of ice to get his powers flowing through his core in hopes that it'd lower his temperature back to normal but instead he just kicked himself away from the wall near the fireplace. "Now I get to tell Alice that we made no progress today. She's going to be _thrilled_."

He backed away with his hands raised in the air in mock victory before making his way down the long corridor to her room, hearing North and Tooth's murmurs of disapproval in his wake. That only managed to make him feel more on edge and without meaning to he hurdled a large ball of ice towards the wall adjacent to him and it shattered into millions of tiny crystalized pieces. It made him feel a little better but the anger was still bubbling haphazardly beneath the surface and he had to pause a few feet away from the closed doors to try and regain some of his composure. Running in like a bat out of hell flinging ice balls would not make Alice feel any more reassured. He had to calm down.

He stood there for a good five minutes, eyes closed as he breathed in slowly and deeply, carefully exhaling as he placed his hands on either side of his head. He pictured Alice's smiling face whenever he said something particular funny that made her face light up and it slowed his heart rate until it no longer felt like his fingers were going to spark with unwanted frost.

He took a great deal of air in through his teeth before cautiously letting it out and deflating his lungs before opening his eyes again. He glanced a bit to the left and saw a large figure huddling by the door in the shadows and he almost jumped out of his skin before he recognized those familiar eyes glowing in reflection of the lamps that were mounted to the walls.

"Thanks Phil, you can go now," he dismissed the yeti and it grunted in something akin to indignation, as if affronted that Jack was the one giving him orders, but he scuttled back down the hallway nonetheless and out of sight. "Christ," Jack muttered before pushing the doors open in case he lost his nerve.

Alice had been lying on the bed staring blankly out at the brightening horizon when she heard the doors being thrust open and she quickly jumped off the bed, slipping around the baseboard and nearly hitting Jack head on before sliding to a stop in front of him.

"Did you find him? Was it Pitch? Where is he?" she tossed question after question at him and he had to steady her with his hands on her shoulders before she toppled over in unrestrained anxiety.

"Whoa, slow down princess," he advised quietly. She swallowed thickly but obeyed and tried to even her breathing as she pulled at the curls that were resting delicately over her shoulder. He absently ran his thumb over the soft strands, circling the little spirals for a moment before he brought his eyes up to meet hers. She must have been able to sense his hesitation because her once bright eyes faded into hopelessness. It nearly tore Jack apart to see her like that and he had to look away because he felt like no matter what he did, it was all his fault. It was his fault Max was taken, it was his fault they didn't find him today or even figured out who took him. It was just all his fault.

Her shoulders sagged beneath his hands and he gripped her tightly, pressing the pads of his fingers into the back of her shoulders.

"We didn't find anything. North doesn't seem to think it was Pitch who took him. We might have found something that could have been left behind by whoever took him. It looked like a handprint. But we have no way of tracking it back to whoever made it, so I feel like it's almost pointless to try but we're going to anyway. We might get lucky and…" he trailed off when he felt her shoulders beginning to shake. He glanced up at her in alarm and saw one of her hands covering her mouth as her watery eyes squinted behind the tears. "Alice…" his voice cracked a bit as she violently shook her head. She tried pulling away from his insistent grip but he wouldn't let her.

"Jack, just let me go. Please just let me go. _Let me go!_ " she violently ripped herself out of his grip and he could feel the ghost of her touch on his skin and he found that the air felt too cold without her warmth beneath his palms and he surged forward, pulling her back into him no matter how roughly she fought him.

"No Alice," he said, softly but firmly as he dragged her into his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her back as she cried into his neck. Her arms were pulled up into her chest, one of her hands still clasped around her mouth and the other resting near it as she sobbed.

"I need Max," she cried fitfully, wet voice muffled by his hoodie as he stroked his fingers along her spine to try and calm her down. He grinded his teeth and tried to smothers his emotions down before they took over his actions and made him accidentally hurt her. "I need him, Jack… I—I've got to get him back, he's—he's my everything. Please…"

"We're gonna find him," Jack said and even he thought he sounded like a broken record. He raised one of his hands to cup the back of her head, fingers lacing through her curly hair as his thumb stroked the sensitive skin on her neck. He kept his other arm wound tightly around her back, keeping her close to him and anchoring her as she choked and cried. "I promise Alice, we're gonna find him. I promise," he whispered into her hair, his words being swallowed by her sobs as she shook violently in his arms. "I promise…" he uttered again and he couldn't tell who he was trying to assure at this point. Probably both of them.

"I need him…" she said again. She sounded broken. She felt broken, like she was physically coming apart in his arms and he couldn't do anything to hold her together. He gripped her tighter, pulled her as close to him as he could.

He clenched his jaw. He couldn't escape the thought that Pitch somehow had something to do with this. It was always him. Everything always circled back to him in the end and this was no exception. Jack just had to figure out the best sort of leverage to get the Nightmare King talking.

He raised an eyebrow a bit, her cries sounding muffled as if cotton had clogged his ears. Maybe he didn't need any leverage at all. Maybe he just needed the right way to convince him.

He'd just have to visit Pitch on his own this time. Because he wasn't an idiot. Pitch knew something and Jack was willing to go through hell and back to figure out what it was.


	13. Chapter 13

So glad it's the weekend. *sigh*

Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows!

* * *

 **Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

* * *

"How is girl?" North asked when he saw Jack return.

North was stationed inside the workshop before a large instrument as he examined the small piece of gold-flecked wood closely. Jack was rubbing his head as he descended the stairs and approached the burly man, staring oddly at the machine.

"She's finally asleep," he said tiredly. "All the crying must have worn her out."

North's bushy brows furrowed in sympathy as he shifted the wood piece under the microscope.

"What are you doing?" Jack felt inclined to ask when the man gave no signs of providing an explanation on his own.

North sighed and leaned back, spine cracking in several places and eliciting a wince out of the winter spirit. "It is definitely gold," he said.

Jack wrinkled his nose. "How do you know for sure?"

"Because I make many things in workshop, Jack," North told him with a pointed look. "Jewelry is among them. I know what gold looks like."

"Okay," Jack exhaled. "So what do we know that can burn a golden handprint into wood?"

"That is what others are trying to find out," North navigated around the table and made his way back up the stairs, wooden piece resting firmly inside a small petri dish he carried in his palm. Jack followed close behind, skipping a bit to keep up with the man's larger strides. "They are in library."

"You have a library?" Jack asked, sounding both confused and mildly intrigued. He raised his eyebrows when North gave him a look that suggested he should have already known this.

"It is in east wing of workshop. As Guardian, I thought it'd be useful to keep steady collection of books. Both for my own personal enjoyment and for situations like this," he side-eyed the winter spirit as they ambled down a long corridor opposite the one Alice's room was located. "Maybe after this is over you could educate yourself."

"Educate myself?" Jack's face twisted as if he tasted something sour.

"Yes," North sounded amused. "You can never learn too much. There are many books that speak of powers like yours, of Guardianship, other mystical beings you probably didn't know existed..." he trailed off, smirking a bit at Jack's pursed lips. "Don't tell me reading is beneath you, Jack Frost."

They circled down another winding corridor and approached an impressively large set of double doors that were wide open.

"I wouldn't say it's beneath me but it's not exactly something I enjoy doing in my spare time," Jack retorted dryly.

"Well this should give you plenty of time to warm up to idea," North announced as they passed through the threshold.

Instantly Jack's nose was filled with the scent of leather bound books, fresh ink, and paper. There were a handful of columns extending backward into the grand room ranging a few feet above Jack's head and layered with books. There was a large round table sitting amongst the columns with a few piles of books, some of which were lying open and others that were cluttered off to the side. Tooth was sitting in one of the wooden chairs with her nose buried in a thick book that probably weighed more than Jack did. He didn't see Bunny in the flesh but he could faintly make out the shadow of the Pooka extending from one of the aisles to their right as he explored the shelves.

"Time for research," North said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Jack's lip curled at the word but he didn't comment as he padded further into the room.

"Is this really the most," Jack waved his hand around, "efficient way to do this? I mean, reading through all these books could take days. Or weeks. How do you even know anything about our _thing_ is in here?"

"Do you have another idea?" North rose from where he was kneeling at one of the shelves. Bunny emerged with a fresh stack of books clutched to his furry chest. "Please enlighten us if you do. Otherwise we have no choice."

Jack floundered for a moment. He'd gotten too used to the modern-day suspense and thrillers. In all the films the main character always happened to know someone who magically had the answer. They made research look like it only took ten minutes. Hell, they had the damn Internet. He wasn't even from this century and he had to remind himself that the world didn't work like that. Even though they were Guardians they still didn't know everything. They weren't lucky enough to have someone who could pull all the answers out of thin air. Except—

"We could try talking to Pitch again," Jack suggested. Bunny deposited the stack of books onto the table next to Tooth and she looked at them miserably. "I don't care if you think he doesn't know anything. I'm not convinced. If you're looking for something that's evil, might as well consult someone who's an expert at it."

"As much as I'd love to run back and tear him a new one, Pitch Black was just wasting our time," Bunny scowled. "He doesn't know anything. Without his powers, he's even more useless than he was before."

Jack gritted his teeth. "What makes you so sure?"

"He's a rat scared of his own shadow," Bunny said flatly.

"Just because he's powerless doesn't mean—"

"We are not having this argument with you," North intercepted with a warning tone.

"Oh I'm not arguing yet," Jack countered darkly.

"Can we please not fight?" Tooth pleaded in a small voice at the table. The three turned to face her. She was clutching the thick book tightly in her feathered fists as she narrowed her eyes at the inhabitants of the room. "In case it's escaped your notice, there's a little boy missing. We don't know who took him or why, we don't know if he's hurt or not, and we're certainly not doing him any favors by bickering over how we're going to try to track down his kidnapper," she pierced them all with a threatening glare before turning her gaze onto Jack, eyes softening. "For now let's just stick with the books. We're pulling down all the ones that are relevant to what we're looking for. Mythology, Cryptozoology, Lycanthropy, you name it. We've narrowed it down to about a third of the library which isn't all that much if we all contribute," she said pointedly.

Jack still felt angry and somehow like they were avoiding another confrontation with the Nightmare King but at the mention of Max he deflated a little. He knew that fighting with the Guardians wouldn't bring them any closer to finding him and the longer they argued the longer it would be before Jack got him back.

Swallowing his pride, Jack rolled his eyes and slid into the seat next to Tooth. With a grateful smile she pushed a stack of books towards him.

"Just seems a little odd or… I don't know, anticlimactic that four of the most powerful beings in existence are using books to find information on a bad guy," he said wryly. "Like Poseidon using floaties in the kiddie pool or something."

"Everyone needs a hobby," North stated nonchalantly.

"Speak for yourself mate," Bunny gave him a weird look, as if the idea of him collecting books as a memorable pastime was preposterous.

"So what have we found so far?" Jack grudgingly grabbed the book on top of the stack and peeled it open. It was a book on sea creatures and the table of contents directed him to a section that described a reptile with golden scales.

"Well we haven't ruled out leprechauns yet," Tooth exhaled. "But the only thing that doesn't fit the bill is the teleporting you described. As far as I know they don't teleport and I haven't found any indicators in these books that they do," she gestured towards the discarded books across from her. One of them was titled _An Leipreachán_ in Gaelic script. "Even though dragons are known for their love of gold, I think we can rule them out considering the circumstances. If her entire house was charred then maybe it'd be a different story."

"What about a shapeshifter who could turn into a dragon?" Jack asked. Tooth gave him a skeptical look. "I mean, it's not too far in the realm of impossibility," he defended himself. "Shapeshifters exist, right?"

"They do," said Tooth carefully. "But I don't think there's ever been a physical documentation of a _dragon_ shapeshifter before."

"There's never been a physical documentation of MiM either but we know he exists," Jack pointed out logically. He still hadn't forgotten the conversation he had with the Man in the Moon all those months ago. He'd lodged it away somewhere in the back of his mind after it happened but ever since Max went missing it was like the dam had burst and it was all he could think about. He couldn't help but wonder if this was what MiM had been warning him about. He tried not to dwell on it in fear of giving himself a headache.

"Let's just stick to the books for now," Tooth patted the pages in front of him with a slow smile as she dismissed his last remark. At least she didn't try to insult him.

He was able to read the first two lines of the text before his mind wandered and he scanned the room absently. "Where's Sandy?" he noticed that their five-piece was currently reduced to a four-piece.

"Working," North answered, voice muffled behind a book about shoulder length in diameter.

Jack was momentarily confused because it couldn't have been nighttime already in Burgess but then he remembered there were other parts of the world that were in different timezones.

"Probably somewhere over Asia," Bunny added, returning with yet another stack of books. Tooth and Jack had similar reactions except Jack didn't try to muffle his groan. Bunny's lips curled upward at the sound as if seeing Jack in distress could not cause him any more joy. "Gonna have to pick up the slack while he's gone. I'd suggest you start reading," he smirked.

Jack angrily flipped the page in his book, nearly causing it to tear from the force. Bunny snickered.

* * *

Alice tossed restlessly in her sleep. Sweat brimmed her forehead despite the cold temperature of the room and she was clutching her pillow tightly in her fist, knuckles turning white. Her eyes were moving fiercely beneath their lids and her brows furrowed.

" _Max, you can't go running off like that," Alice scolded, tugging on his hoodie string to pull him closer to her. Max's eyes were red-rimmed as he glanced sheepishly up at her beneath his long lashes. His hair was a bit longer than it was now, fringe flopping down into his blue eyes that shimmered brightly from the unshed tears. He sniffed as she forcefully held his gaze. "You understand me? You can't leave my sight, not even for a second. You don't know what kind of people are around here. You could get hurt."_

" _I just wanted to play hide-and-seek. I didn't mean to make you mad," he uttered sheepishly, sounding ever the part of a young boy that was being reprimanded by his mother. Except she wasn't really. Not yet, anyway._

 _She shook her head with a tired sigh. "You can't just go running off while we're here. I don't know this place well and neither do you. What if you got lost? What if I couldn't find you?"_

 _He raised a hand to his mouth, muffling his voice with his hoodie sleeve that fell over his tiny fingers. "I'm sorry," he said, biting on the fabric to keep from crying. "I'm sorry, Alice. I won't do it again."_

 _Alice narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before her face softened into a tight smile. She patted the side of his head. "Promise?"_

" _Promise," he nodded. Her pursed smile eased into a much more relaxed one and she nodded, shaking the nerves away._

" _Okay, thank you," she stood up and outstretched a hand for him to take. He accepted it, wrapping his small fingers around hers. She began leading him away from the small alleyway they ended up in, glancing both ways down the sidewalk that bordered a busy city street before heading right. Max jogged to catch up with her long strides, avoiding passersby in business suits and cowering behind her legs whenever someone would accidentally bump into him. She lifted her unoccupied hand and studied the watch on her wrist. She cursed quietly. "I'm going to be late for the next meeting. Come on, we've got to hurry!"_

 _They speed-walked through the hustle and bustle of the crowd that was gathering at the crosswalk. The light flickered green as cars came to a stop and allowed them to pass. Alice kept a firm grip on Max's hand and dragged him along behind her as her eyes scanned for the familiar white stone building. It loomed overhead another block away, large staircase beckoning her forward next to a busy parking lot._

" _The courthouse is just up here. C'mon Max," they sped up into a steady jog. She could faintly remember this happening before. Or something like it. She could remember almost being late for one of her meetings with them. The woman had given her a chastising look the second she walked through the door and Alice had rolled her eyes. Some déjà vu._

" _Did you see that man back there?" Max asked suddenly as they crossed another four-way stop when a car waved her on. She raised a hand in thanks as they skidded across._

" _What man?" Alice asked absently. She neared the edge of the steps and began making her trek up them. Max groaned a little but followed her up nonetheless as she was still firmly clutching his hand in hers._

" _The man that was in the alley with us," he said, so casually that Alice had to stop herself halfway up, feeling a pang of alarm pierce her chest. She didn't remember this part._

 _She kneeled down in front of him and Max had an uneasy look on his face. "What did the man look like?" she asked carefully, rubbing her arms along his for a second before gripping his shoulders steadily._

 _Max shrugged very childlike. "I don't know," he said. "It was too dark to tell. He had black pants on and nice shoes. But his eyes were funny," Max furrowed his blonde eyebrows, wrinkling his button nose and shifting the freckles that dusted his cheeks. "They were this glowing white. I didn't like it. I don't want to see him again."_

" _Glowing white?" Alice repeated. Her blood ran cold and she couldn't figure out why. Something about that seemed hauntingly familiar. It could have just been a trick of the light. A child's imagination could conjure just about anything up if they were scared but for some reason she didn't feel that's what happened._

" _I think he was trying to get me before you came," Max uttered in a small voice. He seemed to be shrinking in on himself as if he were afraid of being too out in the open. His eyes were shifty and her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Don't let him get me," he begged quietly and Alice licked her lips. "Please don't let him get me. I want to stay with you. I promise."_

" _Okay Max just relax," she said shakily but Max didn't seem to hear her._

" _Don't let him get me, please don't let him get me. I'll be good I promise, I'll be good to you like I was to mom, just please don't let him take me away…"_

" _Max," she tried to shush him and her own voice sounded echoed and faint. The world around her seemed to dim and Max's voice was beginning to sound farther and farther away. "Max?" she said again, breathing heavily. She felt disoriented, like the world was continuing to spin whereas she remained stagnant. "Max just slow down for a second, I feel dizzy," she brought a hand up to her forehead as if he were causing it. When she didn't get a response she tried gripping his shoulder tighter in her other hand but she found her fingers wrapping around nothing but air. She panicked. "Max?!"_

 _Alice forced herself to her feet despite her equilibrium's protests and her head darted this way and that trying to find the blonde-haired boy. Oddly enough, the streets had emptied and it seemed that no one was around. That didn't make sense. It was the middle of the day in downtown Columbus. There should've been a traffic jam along the road in front of her but instead it was deserted._

" _Max?" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth to project her voice. "Did you run off again?" she felt angry only for a second before a throaty chuckle emitted from somewhere behind her followed by the sound of dress shoes clicking on the stone stairs._

 _The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she quickly twisted around, nearly stumbling down the stairs and outstretching her arms to right herself. A figure was descending the stairs in a pinstripe dress suit and shiny shoes. It was clutching a pocket watch in its spindly hand that was connected to a gold chain protruding from its front pocket._

 _What really set her on edge was its face. It was a blank slate, save for a pair of shimmering white orbs that rested in the upper center. The eyes. They were the eyes Max saw._

" _I don't think he can hear you," the figure taunted. A large mouth formed when it spoke but there was no nose or creases in the skin that proved it had a real face._

 _Fury mingled with fear settled into her features. "Where's Max?"_

" _Oh I wouldn't worry about him," the figure said in a sing-song voice. "I'd be more worried about yourself."_

 _Dread pooled in her stomach. "What do you mean?"_

 _The figure deterred from her question. "You know Alice, I like you," he said, lifting a finger in her direction as he stepped to the side. She kept her guard up, shoulders stiff as she followed him with her eyes. She felt disconcerted that he knew her name. "You're smart. You're logical. You don't immediately_ believe _something to be true until you have a good reason," he said, enunciating the word 'believe' in a weird way as if she was supposed to understand the meaning behind it. "You're headstrong. I like that in a person," he grinned._

 _She narrowed her eyes. "Meaning?"_

 _He tsk'd. "Just because I think you're smart doesn't mean you have been," he stepped a bit the other way. "Everything that's been going on in your life the past couple months… I mean, crazy right?" he laughed and even with the childlike grin it managed to sound maniacal. But his words didn't make sense._

" _I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "Unless you mean with Max and Anne-…"_

" _I'm not talking about that and you know it."_

 _She paused and hastily closed her mouth. Her stomach twisted. Somehow she did know it._

" _You've made some pretty interesting friends, Alice," he noted and if it were possible his glowing white eyes seemed to glint mischievously. "You know, if someone were to find out that you're apparently friends with Jack Frost and Santa Claus, well," he chuckled quietly. "They may find you a bit_ crazy _."_

 _Alice bit her tongue to keep from retorting. She swallowed down her protests because she knew that he was right. Which was why she didn't bother telling anyone in the first place. They just wouldn't understand. They didn't believe like she did—like Max and Pippa and Jamie did._

" _It's kind of absurd, right? A nineteen year old girl claiming to see fairy tales?" Somehow he managed to narrow his eyes at her as if he were scolding a child. "I'm honestly a bit disappointed. I thought you were a_ grown up _."_

" _Why are you saying this?" she hissed. It'd been a long time since someone called her a grown up and she found herself oddly insulted by the term considering that's what she was, wasn't it? A grown up? An adult? How could you be offended by something if it's clearly what you were?_

 _His shoulders slumped in mock exasperation. "I'm saying that you need to open your eyes, Alice."_

" _Stop speaking in riddles," she squinted. "No one's ever able to figure them out anyway. If you want to say something, just_ say _it."_

 _The figure regarded her for a moment, appearing in deep thought. He raised a finger again. "Food for thought, since I know you're smart..." he paused for dramatic effect, letting the anticipation linger. "How do you know all of this is really happening?"_

 _Her brows twitched. "What do you mean?" she asked again._

" _I mean the accident," he grinned widely out of the side of his mouth. "You do remember it, right?" he quickly backtracked in false confusion. "Almost getting hit by a truck, mysteriously falling out of its path in just the nick of time, hitting your head and blacking out… ring a bell?" he scanned her apprehensive face before nodding solemnly as if her expression was answer enough. "Good. Yeah, that," he waved vaguely. "I mean, you heard the nurse and doctors. It was a miracle you walked away from it unharmed. Well, besides that nasty bump on your head. I see you still have a scar," she raised a hand without thinking, tracing her fingers along the indents of the scar on her hairline. The action made him smile mysteriously. "It's all a bit weird though, isn't it? Taking a fall like that and escaping relatively unscathed? Talk about a medical mystery. But," he raised a hand proudly. "I have a better theory. What if you never actually woke up?"_

 _The air thickened with silence._

 _It took her a few moments to process his words but once she did she shook her head emphatically. "I don't—…"_

" _Come on," he whined like a petulant child, outstretching a leg to step down a bit closer to her. She instinctively backed up and descended a step, too. "Think about it. Use that cataleptic noggin of yours! How do you know you're not still lying comatose in a hospital somewhere? Your imagination can really get away from you when all that brain matter has been squished into jelly. Don't fail me now, Alice. You're a rational thinker like me. You only believe what you can_ see _," he stressed, descending the stairs one step at a time. She didn't move away this time, too paralyzed to try. "You're right-handed which means you think with the left-side of your brain, if you believe such things," he tapped his finger against the side of his head. "So use that to your advantage and think realistically."_

 _Alice's jaw was tense as she stared at the empty palette of his face. Her eyes flickered left to right as she considered him. All the memories of the past few months came flooding back to her. Being pushed out of the way, seeing Jack's face right before she blacked out, finding him waiting outside her bedroom door to check on her and screaming when they first came face to face, laughing as she ran with him through her backyard dodging snowballs. Her mind couldn't have made all of that up. "Jack saved my life," she argued in a murmur. "He told me himself. He said that he asked the Wind to push me out of the way because he couldn't. Because I didn't believe in him. Not yet," there was a bit of hysteria in her voice as she attempted to defend herself. "But I do now. I swear I do. I believe in him. I've talked to him. I've touched him. Felt his skin on my fingertips... I could_ smell _him!"_

 _The figure mustered a pitying look as if she were a wounded animal beyond saving. "See, things like that are what get you sent to the psychiatric ward with weekly visitation rights," she winced at the thought. "Imagine only getting to see Max once a week for sixty minutes with a nurse breathing down your neck making sure you didn't say the wrong thing. Where would Max go?" he innocently wondered out loud and Alice felt her heart rate spike at the thought of someone taking Max away from her. Social Services would never stop gloating if they found out she was being shipped off to a mental institution. They probably had an orphanage on standby for situations like that. They'd physically sign him away to foster care right in front of her if they could._

" _You're the one who took him," she countered. Even she admitted that her argument sounded weak, like she didn't quite believe herself._

" _No," the figure turned a bit and yanked Max to his side as if grabbing him out of thin air._

 _Alice gasped. "Max!" she reached for him but the figure held him just out of reach. He looked so scared._

" _Now, now," he warned. "You'll get him back, but not this way. Not like this. If you haven't noticed, he's not actually_ here _," he sounded annoyed with her, voice raising an octave. "You want him back don't you?"_

" _Yes," she cried, hiccupping a bit as she clenched her fists._

" _You want him now?" he tugged harder on Max's arm and he whined at the roughness._

" _Yes!"_

" _Then do me a favor," he snarled, spit flying from his lips as he glared darkly at her, Max gazing fearfully up at him with tear-stained cheeks. "Wake up."_

" _But," her eyes were wide and panicked. "But I—I don't know how, I—…"_

" _If you want to see your son again," he hissed, teeth barred and gleaming silver. "Then you need to stop prancing around with the fairy tales inside your head. All you have to do is wake up and it'll be like none of this ever happened," when all she did was breathe heavily and gasp in uneven spurts he spat, "Do you hear me you insolent girl?" he shrieked, Max's sobs ringing in her ears as he glowered at her. "I said—!"_

"Wake up!"

Alice gasped, eyes snapping open as she coughed, clawing at her throat as if to force the oxygen down into her lungs. A pair of cold hands grabbed her wrists, holding them steady as she grappled for the air she so desperately needed.

"It's okay, Alice. It's okay, just breathe," a voice instructed calmly from somewhere above her. She could feel the bed sunken next to her and felt a chilling presence resting at her side.

She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, breathing heavily as she gained her bearings. She was in the bedroom North had let her use, sleeping underneath a silken white canopy and covered in red velvet sheets. Jack was sitting closest to her, pale hands clasped firmly yet not painfully around her wrists to keep her from thrashing about. She jumped at the contact, feeling momentarily startled that she could actually feel his flesh brush against hers, and he quickly released her with a look of confusion.

"Are you alright? You were yelling in your sleep," he said carefully, arms still lifted towards her as if he didn't quite know what to do with them before placing them at his sides and using one to lean against. The bed sunk further as he did so and she watched the spot where his hand met the mattress with a blank look. "Alice?" he pressed, tilting his head to try and meet her gaze. She quickly swept her eyes away and connected her eyes to his, feeling tired and like she'd just been viciously woken from a nap.

"I'm fine," she said, carefully raising her hands to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Once she pulled them away, she noticed the three other figures standing tensely off to the side as they watched her speculatively. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable and a little embarrassed at the audience she had.

"Are you sure?" Jack urged, looking skeptical.

She shrugged his concerns off with a nod. "Yeah, fine. Just a bad dream… I guess," she pursed her lips and blinked the events of the dream away before she could dwell too deeply on them. She flicked her gaze up to meet the others quickly. "Did you find anything?"

Jack sighed and rubbed an exhausted hand over his face. She tracked the movement carefully. "Not unless a dragon snuck into your house in human form and flew away to the nearest Lonely Mountain," he said lightly, smirking a bit at his own joke before the weird look she gave him caused the expression to fade. "No, we haven't," he clarified and she closed her eyes. "We're still looking though," he tried to quickly reassure her. "We have a few possible suspects but none of them have quite hit the mark yet."

"You're welcome to come sit with us while we look if you want," Tooth offered with a kind smile. She eyed North and Bunny out of the corner of her eyes and subtly elbowed them in the stomach.

"Right!" North jumped, startling Alice who'd gotten distracted by the luminescence of Tooth's feathers along her crown. They were just so _vivid_ and _bright_. How could her mind imagine all of that detail? "We could use all help we can get," he smiled invitingly. "There will be more cookies and milk."

Alice slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position and concealed a yawn with the back of her hand. "I should help," she agreed.

She followed closely behind the Guardians as they led the way to the library. Every now and then one of them would attempt to peer slyly over their shoulder to check on her and each time she narrowed her eyes at them and they quickly averted their gaze after being caught. Jack was walking to her left, his shoulder occasionally brushing against hers as he walked closer to her than was really necessary but she found herself focusing on the touch. The fabric of his hoodie brushed gently against the long-sleeved shirt she was wearing. She could feel the coolness of his body temperature seeping through the material, flowing towards her in soft waves like when she'd hold her hand over a cold glass of water and could feel the chilling air that wafted up into her palm from the cup.

She tried pushing the dream to the back of her mind. That's all it was: a dream. None of it was real. Her stress was taking its toll on her conscience, warping old memories she had with Max and scaring her. She missed him and that's the reason she had the dream. She saw the figure of the mysterious man—or _thing_ —because Max had described it to her as such and her mind attempted to conjure up something solid. That's all. She wasn't going to let it get to her. Because it wasn't real. _This_ was real.

They eventually reached the library and the smell alone eased her troubled mind. She loved books. There were a few stacked precariously on a large round table in the center of the room. She navigated through the shelves and took a seat at the table after Tooth did. She didn't notice that Jack was going to pull a chair out for her but stopped himself before he could, nor did she notice that everyone else did. She did, however, notice the conflicting look that flickered across his pale face and she furrowed her brows but before she could say anything, Bunny stepped up behind her and laid down a few smaller books.

"It's a lot to take in. Make of it what you will. And before you ask: yes, it does exist and no, you can't see a picture of it."

He walked around the table and she cracked a half smile at him before leafing through the book. It was talking about fairies.

Jack took a seat next to her, offering a boyish half-grin before distastefully tugging an unopened book towards himself.

"So," she said loudly enough to where only Jack could hear her. His head rolled towards hers, resting his chin on his hand. "What exactly are we looking for here? I mean, I don't know how much help I can be. I don't really know what I'm supposed to find," she felt guilty knowing that she wasn't going to be of much use. It left a bitter taste in her mouth admitting that she didn't have any experience with the supernatural creatures the Guardians must have already faced. It was only just two and a half months ago that she learned things like that actually existed. And already they were threatening to tear her family apart and she could do nothing to stop it.

"None of us really know what we're doing," Jack admitted after a moment's hesitation. He must've expected a worse reaction out of her than she gave because she just pinched her eyebrows together. "But we're just trying to find something that relates to gold in some way. Like the gold that was burned into the wood by your window?" she nodded. "That's the best lead we have. And frankly it sucks but… I guess they're doing the best they can," he nodded towards the three Guardians that were shuffling through book after book, seemingly adamant on finding something that may be useful to their endeavor. "None of them have heard of anything that can leave a mark like that. But they're trying."

Alice smiled sadly, swallowing down the frustration she felt building up inside again. They were doing their best and she couldn't ask more than that. It was more than enough that they were even bothering to help her in the first place. She gave Jack a look that she hoped conveyed those words without having to speak them aloud and the smile he gave her in return told her that he read her loud and clear.

A stream of gold sand then filtered into the room at that moment and Alice glanced up, gazing at the sparkling dream sand with an awed look on her face.

"Welcome back, Sandy!" North greeted jovially. Her eyes trailed from the beautiful glittering sand to the jolly man who was parading around with a fresh batch of cookies. The large furry creature that had been watching her earlier was trailing behind him with a full pitcher of milk and some glasses. North was always in such high spirits. It made her feel warm inside and she found that she clutched that warmth as close to her as she could. It anchored her.

"Pleasant dreams?" Bunny asked with a hint of sarcasm. Sandy tossed a clump of sand at him in response and he avoided it with a huffed laugh.

"Time to get to work," Tooth gestured towards the books they collected. Sandy gazed down at them with wide eyes. "We've got a lot to cover and not a lot of time to do it."

"Speaking of work," North commented offhandedly, depositing the plate of cookies in front of Alice with a wink before turning his attention to Jack with his hands on his hips. "I think you have somewhere to be."

Alice turned to Jack and frowned as he tilted his head in confusion. "I do?" North gave him a pointed look and after a moment's pause his eyes lit up in recognition. "I do," he confirmed for himself with a sigh. He pushed himself away from the table slowly and grabbed his staff. "Blizzards and snowstorms. Hail and sleet. Work. Right. Sandy didn't get the night off so why would I?" he wondered rhetorically.

North lifted a finger, eyes focused on the page he'd just flipped to in a book. "This is not vacation."

Jack made a sound in the back of his throat before smirking down at Alice who was watching the exchange with a tight grin. He raised his eyebrows at her and tapped the top of her head with his staff before snatching a cookie and stuffing it in his mouth. "Guess I'll be back later."

"Don't freeze your tongue to a pole or eat any yellow snow," Bunny droned from his spot on the floor.

"Ha ha," Jack uttered sarcastically before turning on his heels and heading towards the doors.

Alice bit her lip before jumping out of her seat and running after him, causing the four Guardians to glance up at her with furrowed brows before exchanging looks.

"Jack," she called and he stopped mid-step, turning on the balls of his feet to face her with an expectant look. She wringed her fingers, realizing a moment too late that she didn't know why she stopped him. She licked her lips and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling the need to at least say something now that she had his attention.

She wanted to ask why he had to leave right this second and if he could maybe stay a little bit longer because she didn't want to be left alone with the other Guardians. He was the only one she felt comfortable around and maybe he deserved to hear that. He immediately brought her to the North Pole because he thought that it'd be the safest place for her and he hadn't stopped moving since because he wanted to get Max back and she felt so incredibly grateful despite how little she'd been there mentally since it happened and maybe he deserved to hear that too. She felt the haunting tendrils of fear slithering up into her subconscious and she wanted to keep him near her to make sure that he wouldn't disappear, that everything wouldn't disappear. Because she was afraid that if he left her sight, she'd never see him again.

However, what actually managed to slip out of her mouth in a quick blurt was, "You know what the Lonely Mountain is?"

She inwardly kicked herself for her word vomit and subtly grinded her teeth.

Jack raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I've snuck into a _lot_ of movies," he reminded her with a wicked grin.

She huffed a laugh through her nose. "Right, I forgot. No one being able to see you and all," she rambled, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. He turned fully to face her, staff thrust casually over his shoulder as he smirked at her. "I guess there's hope for you yet then if you're a fan of The Hobbit."

"Oh I didn't say I was a fan," he countered, blue eyes gleaming teasingly.

She rolled her eyes, the knots in her stomach from the day's events untangling a bit at the normality between the two. She could do this. She could talk to him as if nothing had happened. Like it was a just normal day and she wasn't afraid that she was being trapped inside her own skull. "Well that's something we can fix later on," she amended with a wry smile.

His smirk widened. "Oh really? What did you have in mind?"

Alice shrugged, crossing her arms tighter over her chest. "I don't know. We could watch the movies at my house or something I guess? If that's something you might be interested in doing?" she winced internally. She didn't mean for it to sound the way that it did and she quickly backtracked, hoping that her need to have him close by didn't inevitably end up chasing him away because she had sudden dependency issues. "I mean, just hang out. As friends do. You know?" she bit the inside of her cheek so hard she nearly drew blood. She could've just smacked herself.

"Friends," Jack repeated as if he didn't know the meaning of the word. "Right," his smirk eased into a gentle smile and she relaxed a bit because it was a familiar look on him. "Yeah, we can do that. I think it'd be fun. Pretty sure I've only seen the first one, but I did see all the Lord of the Rings ones when they came out. That was a long time ago but I think I can remember them pretty well."

She perked up. "Me too. I went with my family to see all of them. We were big Tolkien fans," at his blank look she laughed a bit and explained, "He wrote the books."

"There were _books?_ " Jack sounded stunned.

She bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Yes Jack, there were books."

He didn't seem to find that nearly as appealing. "Well as long as you don't make me read them or something," he eyed her carefully. His eyes were still swimming playfully.

She placed a hand over her heart. "Scout's honor."

Jack nodded, grinning as he gazed at her for a few moments before he tilted his head back. "Well, duty calls," he stated almost apologetically.

Alice nodded. "Right. Blizzards and snowstorms," she repeated his earlier words.

"I'll be back, Alice," he told her and there was an underlying promise in his words, something intimate that made her shift uncomfortably as if he knew that she was worried about him leaving and not returning. When all she did was nod he gave her a quick wink before turning back around and gliding through the doors, whistling as he did so.

She watched him go until he rounded the corner, biting her lip anxiously all the way. The longing she felt to have him near her couldn't have just been a figment of her imagination. No matter how frightening they were, those emotions were real. She wouldn't have been fighting them if they weren't. There was no way he was just inside her head.

Right?

* * *

Jack felt momentarily relieved when he unleashed a mandatory ice storm in northern Sweden. His pent up frustration had reached its boiling point and it showed in the aggression of the turbulent snow that wreaked havoc on the unfortunate cities within range.

There used to be a time when mercy wasn't part of his vocabulary. Before he became a Guardian he didn't care who suffered from his wrath and when he was angry and lonely enough there were villages frozen over until life was simply unsustainable. Nowadays he at least had the audacity to feel mildly concerned whenever he inflicted more damage than absolutely necessary. Because he found that part of him just didn't care. He forgot that his job, for all intents and purposes, reflected negatively on the people living below. He didn't have the right to take away something as fragile as a human life even though some part of him regrettably acknowledged the fact that sometimes people didn't survive that blizzard he created that he thought was small and relatively harmless.

He forgot the extent of his powers sometimes. On rare occasions his morals got away from him. There was something deep buried within him that yearned for a taste of darkness. Jack figured that most beings like him had to resist the temptation to let their powers control them rather than the other way around. It was normal, wasn't it? It was the difference between people like North and people like Pitch. North didn't give in to the darkness whereas Pitch did. North was in control of his powers but Pitch let his powers consume him. Jack was able to see the damage a decision like that could inflict on one's psyche because Pitch had become dependent on power. He was weak without it.

Usually Jack didn't let something like that go to his head. Not too long ago he felt almost sorry for the Nightmare King. He pitied Pitch even though he hated when other people pitied him. He was a bit of a hypocrite in that respect.

But at the moment, Jack found himself taking advantage of the fact that Pitch was at his weakest.

He still owed him a private visit after all and he had every intention of following through.

Jack took a detour on his way back to the North Pole. Well, technically it wasn't much of a detour at all since Burgess wasn't exactly on the way.

Jack landed gracefully a few feet away from the entrance to Pitch's lair. He found his fists were clenching up as his gaze landed on the iron bed. The last time he'd been here was when he found Tooth's fairies locked up in cages and Pitch gave him his memories back. It didn't feel like it'd been a year since it happened.

He schooled his features, steeling his expression to firm resolve before he stepped forward and prepared to command the Wind to carry him down into the hole. His concentration was broken however when a twig snapped from behind and he jolted around with his staff outstretched defensively.

He was taken aback when he was met with a pair of familiar yellow eyes though he shouldn't have been too surprised considering this was his territory.

"Pitch," he hissed, lowering the staff a bit. "What are you doing out here?"

"Jack Frost," Pitch drawled with a smirk, hands clasped behind his back as he ambled forward casually. "What a pleasant surprise. I was simply taking an afternoon stroll. Gets really stuffy down there sometimes," he droned in his thick accent, words flowing smoothly like poisoned honey. "Fresh air is good for the soul, after all."

Jack snorted. "What soul? I was under the impression you didn't have one."

Pitch placed a hand on his chest in mock hurt. "You wound me, Frost," he lifted an eyebrow and his infuriating smirk returned. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I feel so rebellious meeting like this. Hopefully our parents don't find out," he teased coldly.

"I want to talk," Jack said, ignoring his last comment. He lowered his staff completely before crossing his arms over his chest. "About Max, the kid who was taken."

Pitch rolled his eyes. "Oh please, still singing that song are we? I already told your fearless leader that I didn't take him."

"Maybe you didn't take him but that doesn't mean you don't know who did," Jack countered with a glare.

"A very valuable argument but alas they already tried that one on me," Pitch lamented. "I do hope you enjoy disappointment because my answer isn't going to change even if you say please."

"I have no intention of saying please," Jack said darkly, advancing on Pitch slowly who for his part appeared both amused and mildly curious. "See, there's a difference between the other Guardians and me. They like to do the right thing, they see the good in people," Jack flicked his wrist lazily. "Whether the good they see in _you_ is in relation to your missing powers or not, well, I could care less. You're still as much of a threat to me and the people I care about as you were a year ago except now the only difference is that someone important to me has gone missing and your name is written all over it," Jack closed the distance between them until there was only a foot of space separating them. "I'd like for you to understand that the boy who went missing has a family that loves him and wants him back. Now I'm not saying please, but I will ask nicely," Jack smiled without emotion. "Can you tell me who took him?"

Pitch regarded him for a few quiet seconds, yellow eyes gliding over his face as if he were a fascinating specimen being examined in a lab.

"Interesting," he murmured finally. He raised a grey finger and pointed it at Jack. "Now is this protective mama bear speech in relation to the missing boy or his young, attractive mother?" he asked with a taunting grin and Jack felt his blood run cold a split second before his staff snapped forward and sent Pitch flying into the nearest tree with a loud crack.

Pitch groaned as he landed in the dry grass but a pained laugh erupted from between his lips. "Thought so," he said, arching his back with a wince.

Jack stalked forward and kneeled before the prone Boogeyman, lip curled in unconcealed rage as he leaned within inches of the man's face. "I'm not playing games here, Pitch. I came for answers and I know you have them. Insult me all you like but I'd suggest you leave the kid's mother out of this or I won't hesitate to bloody that pretty face of yours."

Pitch gazed at him as if his words startled him. "I'll be damned," he chuckled lightly. "There really is a dark side to you after all. You and I are a lot more alike than I thought."

Jack growled before wrapping a fist around Pitch's cloak and hoisting him to his feet roughly and bringing them nearly nose-to-nose. "I'm nothing like you," he spat fiercely before his hand glowed blue and a beam of light protruded from his palm, knocking Pitch off balance and slamming him back into the ground in an uncoordinated flail of limbs.

This seemed to send the Nightmare King into hysterics for he started laughing again, this time louder. "Is this your brilliant plan then?" he mocked, leaning up onto his elbows. He was out of breath from slamming into the tree still but otherwise unharmed. "Slap me around until I tell you what you want to hear?"

Jack shrugged with a wicked grin. "If it works."

He gave Pitch time to clumsily return to his feet, brushing his cloak off as if he didn't plan on falling again. He tossed his staff aside for the time being, confident that he wouldn't need it.

"You know, this act of heroism isn't becoming you," Pitch noted, stumbling a bit as Jack approached him again. There wasn't fear in his eyes but the situation was obviously beginning to make him slightly uneasy. Jack felt a surge of satisfaction at the thought. "Do you think that by forcing information out of me you'll sweep the lady off her feet?"

"No," Jack said simply. "Because I don't plan on telling her," he then drew back his arm and punched Pitch in the jaw. His hands immediately flew up to cup his face with an angry hiss, narrowing his eyes at Jack who only smirked in return.

Pitch clutched his face for a moment longer before his emotionless grin returned. "How very noble of you," he looked about ready to say more but Jack only hit him again because once just wasn't enough. Pitch howled in rage, pupils dilating a bit at the pain before he launched forward and hit Jack in the side of the head, stunning him briefly as he saw stars. "Go on," Pitch snarled, no longer entertained as he loomed over Jack as he hunched over and tried righting himself. "Feed that darkness. Come on, take it for a spin. Who knows, you may like it," he sneered with a taunting smirk.

Jack yelled before straightening his spine and thrusting his arms forward, blue sparks scattering through the air like lightning as they reached their mark and jolted Pitch's nervous system. His lips momentarily turned blue as the cold numbed his blood before he fell to the ground, clutching his chest.

" _Just tell me what I want to know!_ " Jack roared, hands shaking. "Who took Max?! _Who?!_ " he stomped forward with a glimmering ball of ice hovering threatening in his palm.

"I already _told_ you—…" Pitch uttered through clenched teeth before Jack hurled the ice ball at him, nailing him in the shoulder and taking his breath away.

" _Stop lying!_ " he screamed, patience worn thin. He had tunnel vision, glaring fiercely at Pitch who finally managed to summon somewhat of a frightened look on his face as he attempted to back up out of Jack's reach. He wasn't able to move fast enough and Jack reached down to grab the nearest limb within arm's length which happened to be Pitch's leg. He squeezed with a force he didn't know he had and Pitch yelled at the bruise that instantly formed before he yanked him to the side and tossed another beam of ice at him. Pitch attempted to block the attack but only managed to tear the sleeve of his cloak at the onslaught of the cold.

"Alright, alright!" Pitch relented quickly, raising a hand in surrender while he clutched the other one to his chest.

Jack breathed heavily through his nose as he stared down at the Boogeyman in obvious disgust. There was a large purple and green bruise swelling along his jawline, the white-grey skin along his arm showing through the tear in his cloak with a blue streak decorating the surface that looked like a mix between a developing bruise and frostbite.

"I'm listening," Jack stated, voice calm and quiet but no less deadly.

"I only have a name, alright?" Pitch panted, rolling his shoulder as he flexed his injured arm. "It's not even his real name, but it's what he goes by with customers."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean 'customers'?"

"He makes deals. People go to him because they want things they can't get on their own but in order to get them, they have to do something for him first."

If possible, Jack's expression looked even more dangerous. "And being the rat bastard that you are, you made a deal with him so you could get your powers back didn't you?"

Pitch rolled his eyes. Even in pain he still managed to look exasperated. "I never knew anything about the damn kid he took. I didn't know he existed. I don't even know why he wants him because my deal had nothing to do with him," Pitch said forcefully and even though Jack could still feel his blood boiling, he was able to read it in the Nightmare King's eyes that he was telling the truth.

"What was the deal then?" he asked instead.

"None of your bloody business," Pitch snapped. "Look, the only important thing is that he goes by Tom. Alright? Satisfied? That's all I know."

Tom. A three letter word. That was hardly anything to go by. Millions of people around the world probably had the same damn name.

Jack eyed him skeptically. "And you don't know his real name?"

"I was given it when I first started searching for him but I hardly remember it by now. It's not exactly a common name," Pitch said with a bit of snark.

"Why should I believe you?"

Pitch scoffed a laugh. "You shouldn't. But regardless I'm telling you the truth."

Jack felt inclined to interrogate him a little further, could feel his fingers twitching and begging him to reach forward and grab him by the throat, but Pitch's eyes wandered over his shoulder and they widened a bit as he caught something coming up behind him.

Jack immediately turned on his heels, arms held out in defense, only to see a glowing ball of light floating towards them. It was a bit red in tint and the closer it got, the more Jack was able to see something swirling around inside of it. Something murky and dark. He squinted, shoulders tense as he tried to make out what the thing was but he was forced out of his trance when Pitch made a pleased noise in the back of his throat.

Jack rounded on him in an instant, easily spotting the look of recognition on the man's face. "What the hell is that?" he demanded.

"That," Pitch stated with a vicious grin. "Would be him upholding his end of the bargain."

Jack's brows furrowed, not catching the meaning of his words until the orb approached him. It hovered above him for a moment and it was then that Jack understood what the blackness was that was whirling within the orb's center faster and faster the closer it got to the Boogeyman. As if it were antsy and couldn't wait to be rejoined with its master.

"If I were you," Pitch warned with a threatening chuckle, not taking his eyes away from the orb as it seemed to glow brighter. "I'd run far, far away from here. Considering what you've done, I'm not feeling very merciful at the moment and I won't hesitate to rip you limb from limb once I get it all back."

Jack edged away from Pitch and the orb, only taking a second to balk as a flurry of dark nightmare sand burst free from the orb in a blinding beam. Pitch lurched as it connected with him and Jack had to forcefully peel his eyes away from the scene to run back and grab his staff. He took another brief moment to glance over his shoulder, seeing the nightmare sand engulf Pitch completely as he laughed sadistically, voice reverberating off the trees in haunting waves.

Jack quickly took off, commanding the Wind to take him high into the sky and out of sight before Pitch regained his full strength and developed a strong desire for bloodlust.

Now it seems they had two problems.

And odds are he just made them both catastrophically worse.


	14. Chapter 14

A month later…

Sorry about the wait guys. Unfortunately I've been pretty caught up with my other stories this past month and have been vigorously dishing out chapter after chapter on them. But don't be alarmed! This month has also given me time to really flesh out this story more. I have the main points of it figured out, it's just going to be about filling in the fluff in between. I'm also pleased to announce that I've finally chosen an ending. If you remember from a while back, I said there were a few directions this story could go and alas I've picked one. I think it's going to be more motivating for me now because I'm finally writing up to an actual concrete goal. Much excitement.

Also, I can't believe that I've already written almost 100k words for this fic haha. Let's see if we can get to 200k? It's not all that farfetched considering the story isn't _quite_ half over yet ;) And thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows this story continues to get! I'm amazed that we're almost at 100 follows. So cool! It's all appreciated and I don't take any of you for granted. Enjoy!

 **Melissa Fairy** , I don't think Jack would risk Jamie's safety by getting him involved. **Ammypie** , thank you, I'm glad you feel that way! **Frostover317** , you have some very interesting theories here. I like that you've thought everything through. Never stop doing that. **Momochan77** , thank you, I'm glad you like it! **Snowlily246** , thanks, I appreciate it!

* * *

 **Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen**

* * *

"You did _what?_ "

Jack shrunk under North's fiery gaze, suddenly wishing he possessed the ability to open tunnels beneath his feet like Bunny because for all intents and purposes the usually jolly man looked like he actually wanted to set Jack on fire.

"No, please tell me I heard you wrong," North continued, his white moustache fluttering and wiggling like a snake as he scowled and huffed. "Tell me you did not go to Pitch Black after I _specifically_ asked you not to. Because that would mean you disobeyed me and I do not take well to disobedience. It would _also_ mean that Pitch has yet another vendetta against us and I will be positively _irate_ if another war is unleashed between us all because of your petty rebellion," North's lip curled as his beefy fists clenched where they rested on his hips. Jack had his head bowed and shoulders hunched, looking appropriately scorned. North shook his head in disappointment. "I will say it again: if you wish to not be treated like child then maybe you should stop acting like one."

"Do you guys maybe want to hear what information I got from this 'petty rebellion'?" he dared to ask, balking a bit at North's eyes widening in rage at being back sassed. "Respectively, of course," Jack quickly added.

"What, you mean besides Pitch getting all his powers back?" Bunny remarked sarcastically. The Pooka glanced quickly at North, thrusting a paw in Jack's direction. "You're going to punish him, right? This deserves punishment."

Jack almost rolled his eyes but was able to stop himself at the last second in fear of North pulling his swords out. "Punish me later, okay? I promise I'll accept whatever it is if you'll just listen to what I have to say."

Bunny narrowed his eyes. "You say that as if we'll give you an option."

Jack cast a pleading look at North who was breathing deeply through his large nose before he nodded for Jack to continue.

"Okay," Jack exhaled and his shoulders relaxed a bit. "Pitch said that he met up with a guy. Some guy who makes deals. He said he couldn't remember his proper name. I guess it's complicated like maybe a foreign name? But he said the guy goes by 'Tom'."

"Wait," Tooth interjected and Jack started, momentarily forgetting that she was in the room. Her small fingers were resting tentatively on her temples. "So you're saying that Pitch made a deal with someone to take the boy?"

"He said Max wasn't part of his deal," said Jack. "My guess is he wanted this Tom guy to get him his powers back but he still had to do something in return. I don't know what his end of the bargain was but my guess is it had something to do with Max, he's just not saying what."

"I mean if it comes down to a kid's life against his powers," Bunny said, lifting his paws as if weighing the two options. "I don't think he's going to care what happens to _one_ boy. It's typical Pitch Black fashion. Or do you not remember what happened last Easter?"

"I don't know," Jack said, clenching his teeth and hissing in frustration. "But you have to admit this is more than what we were going on earlier," he directed his next question to North, "does the name Tom ring a bell? Or is there maybe some creature out there that makes deals for a living?"

North rubbed a tired hand down his face. "There are a few I suppose. Witches are notorious for making deals, as are some Elementals. Other beings grant wishes to those who do their bidding which is practically same thing—Genies, Faeries, some Nymphs. List goes on."

"This is good then," said Jack, eyes alight with cautious optimism. "What do they usually make deals for? What's a good bargaining chip?"

"Souls mostly," North admitted. Tooth fluttered next to him uncomfortably at the subject.

"Souls?" Jack furrowed his brows. "Why souls?"

"They are actually quite valuable depending on particular soul being dealt. They can be used for any number of things. Certain spells require them if powerful enough."

"You think Pitch sold his soul to get his powers back," Bunny deadpanned, arms crossed. "Doesn't that seem a little counterproductive? Though it is Pitch so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised."

"Actually," North lifted a finger, shaking it in revelation. "If that is reason deal was made, it could explain why Max was taken. Rather than Pitch's soul, it could have been Maximilian's as replacement."

Jack felt sick to his stomach. "Can you do that? Trade someone else's soul in exchange for a deal?"

"I don't see why not. Witches and the like are sloppy. They do not care how deal is made, so long as someone does their dirty work. I would suspect that Pitch's soul is tarnished beyond repair especially after being tainted with dark magic," North lamented with regret. "It does not surprise me that his would not satisfy. Maximilian is young and pure, his soul is probably very bright. It would be very dangerous if someone were to get their hands on it."

"Again," Bunny's twitching nose wrinkled. "Sounds like Pitch."

"Let's just… take a step back for a moment and pretend like we didn't just discuss the possibility that someone's already ripped a seven-year-old boy's soul out of his body," Jack swallowed thickly with a grimace. He felt a little lightheaded and maybe like he wanted to hunt Pitch down again to finish what he started. He balled his trembling hand that wasn't clutching his staff into a fist, watching as it frosted over and sparkled blue. "This guy Tom – is there anyone who might know who he is?"

"I have already alerted Mother Nature of missing boy," North announced, warming his hands over the roaring fire of the grand fireplace. "But I will bring her up to date on what you have found. She may know something we do not."

"I can get in contact with Cupid," Tooth raised her hand meekly before smoothing down the feathers along her crown. "He owes me a favor anyway," she gave a breathy laugh. When everyone exchanged slightly awkward glances she quickly shook her head. "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that!" her already rosy cheeks deepened into a tomato red. Jack flashed her an amused grin despite himself which made her blush further.

"Bunny, I assume you will inform Groundhog," North gave the warrior bunny a pointed look who appeared exasperated at the mention of the elusive rodent.

"Useless weasel," Bunny muttered. North rolled his eyes.

"Jack," North commanded his attention. Jack momentarily wondered who North would ask him to attempt to contact now as he didn't really know anyone else outside their circle. "You should take Alice home today," he held up a hand to placate him the second Jack opened his mouth to protest. "Only for today. She needs other clothes. We can't expect her to wear same thing every day. She may be here for a while and we want her to feel comfortable."

Jack contemplated his words before reluctantly agreeing with a tilt of his head. He made to head for Alice's room after realizing both Bunny and Tooth had already dismissed themselves to run their errands but North stopped him.

"Not yet, Jack. Your punishment," he reminded him and Jack groaned. "Don't get smart with me Jack Frost," North glared and the silver-haired boy pursed his lips. "Seeing as how you feel need to run off when other people tell you not to, I don't want you to leave workshop unless I say otherwise. I don't even want you to leave my sight unless strictly directed to do so by _me_. And since I asked you to take Alice home, Sandy will accompany you to keep eye on you," he gestured towards the glowing sandman who hovered nearby, tiny eyes gliding over Jack's face to gauge his reaction.

"Seriously?" Jack countered dryly, feeling slightly annoyed that he now had a babysitter. "Do you really think I'd do anything to put Alice in danger? What, you not trust me with her now?"

"It is not about girl," North refuted, crossing his inked arms over his broad chest. "It is about you losing my trust in general. We are a team Jack, and as a team we do things together. You may have gotten used to having your way and doing things on your own a year ago but you know better now than to go gallivanting off trying to solve problems without consulting us first. You are a part of us—a Guardian. And as Guardians we combine our minds. We combine our minds and we combine our strengths. We are stronger and more powerful together than we are apart," he pointed a bejeweled finger at Jack. "It would do you some good to remember that. Despite what you may think, you still need us."

The skin pinched between Jack's eyebrows. "Is now really the best time to try and teach me a lesson?"

"I would say it is as good a time as any," North answered lightly but his face was serious. "It does not matter if you are hundred years old or three hundred years old. You still act like teenager. So you are going to be treated like one and as such punished like one too. Maybe then you will learn that even though you are Spirit of Fun who hates grownups, you could take a leaf out of their book and grow up a little yourself," North paused only for a moment before gesturing forward. "You can go now."

Jack's frown was deep as he headed down the hall to find Alice with Sandy hot on his trail.

* * *

Alice flipped and twisted the cell phone in her hands absently as she rested in the rocking chair alongside the fireplace. She pulled the chair closer to the balcony earlier that day and though the doors were closed to keep her warm, it didn't take away from the beauty of the snow dunes decorating the horizon.

She felt tired even though she spent the better part of the day sleeping. Her bones felt tired and heavy whenever she moved and she wondered if maybe she felt so exhausted because she'd been sleeping so much. She found that she didn't have the energy to do anything. Even the walk to and from the library was a chore for her. She felt no less motivated in finding Max but she was beginning to accept the fact more and more that there was nothing she could really do. The only thing she seemed to be good for was sleeping. Sleeping and having nightmares.

The man with the glowing eyes came to her in a dream again with his abnormally large mouth, spindly fingers and taunting words still intact. He never stuck around long but it was enough to make her mind feel heavy and foggy.

Between his maniacal cackling and haunting jeers, she also found herself dreaming of a white room. There was something hard resting underneath her like a mattress with no padding, only tightly coiled springs. The air was cold and sterile and burned her nose. She always tried to move her arms and swing herself upright but the discovery of something prodding her arms kept her in place.

Despite the brightness of the room she felt claustrophobic like there wasn't enough air to breathe. Amidst her struggling she would find herself dizzy and disoriented which would inevitably cease her fight against the invisible restraints. And when she focused hard enough, unmoving, she could hear the distinct drone of _beep, beep, beep, beep_ …

"Alice?"

She shook herself out of the memory, feeling the warmth of the fire coating her skin as she turned to face the direction the voice came. She spotted Jack standing in her doorway, brows taut and lips thin with Sandy floating behind him. The golden sandman quirked a half-smile at her once their eyes met.

"Oh," she said, not having heard their approach. She feebly lifted the device in her hands. "There wouldn't happen to be a phone charger lying around the workshop somewhere, would there?" she asked, only partially joking. North made a lot of things, didn't he? She glanced down at the phone. "It's dead and I realized not too long ago that my aunt probably responded to my voicemail already and is most likely freaking out about not hearing back from me yet."

"You're in luck," Jack said and something about his voice was off. His words were stiff. "North asked me to take you home so we can pick up some of your things. Clothes and I guess now a phone charger," Alice stood from her seat, feeling the joints in her back crack after being in the same position for so long. She winced. "Oh and guess what?" Jack smirked, tossing his arms out. "I now have a babysitter. Say hello to the guy who's going to be breathing down my neck. No offense," he added offhandedly to Sandy who had clearly taken offense.

A golden bucket with sparkling steam appeared over Jack's head who glanced confusedly up at it before the bucket lurched forward and spilled its contents over Jack's face, glittery dream sand sprinkling down to the ground in waves. Jack coughed and swatted at the sand before scowling at Sandy in irritation.

"Real mature," Jack glared and Sandy raised his eyebrows and shrugged as if to say 'you're one to talk'.

"I missed something," Alice stated, tossing a puzzled look between the two. From what she'd seen, Jack usually got along the best with Sandy.

Jack licked his lips before adjusting the staff in his hand. "Pitch said some more things about whoever took Max. He gave a name. Tom. Apparently he made a deal with the guy. I don't actually know if it's any more helpful than what we already had to go on but well," he shrugged as if the action alone proved his point and Alice deflated a bit. They still hadn't gotten anywhere. They had no idea where Max was and it'd been nearly three days. Jack must've realized he said the wrong thing because he gave her a quick smile, "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll find something. They're all getting their magical friends up to date so hopefully we'll be hearing something useful soon."

"Right," Alice nodded, wringing her fingers beneath the sleeves of her hoodie because Jack's words were less than reassuring and he seemed to realize it.

"C'mon," he said, urging her forward with a pale hand. "Let's go get you some warmer clothes, huh?"

She accepted his outstretched hand, nearly recoiling at the coldness of his skin before she got used to it. He held her hand lightly and began to steer her out of the room, only to be halted by Sandy who descended in front of them. He pulled one of his small arms from around his back, exposing what looked to be a snow globe that rested in his palm. Jack's shoulders slumped with relief.

"Oh thank god," he made to grab the snow globe from Sandy as Alice watched on, confused as to why a snow globe was of import, when Sandy tugged it closer to himself out of Jack's reach. "Really?" Jack asked exasperatedly. Sandy gave him a pointed look and Jack tossed his free hand in the air, his staff emitting a few snowflakes from its tip as some sort of physical response to Jack's annoyance. "Go on then," he said and Sandy rolled his eyes at the attitude before reeling his arm back and tossing the snow globe to the ground.

Alice jumped as the globe seemingly shattered on the wooden floor, only to have the floorboards swallowed up by a glowing, spherical portal. The air hummed in offense as the portal disturbed the air, causing the hairs on Alice's arms to stand on end like an electric field.

"Remember how I said you can teleport?" Jack murmured close to her ear. She nodded, still too entranced by the portal to pull her gaze away. "Well, this is how you do it. You just think of a place and it takes you there. Pretty cool, huh?"

"It's… definitely something," Alice nodded before she paused in the movement, struck with sudden realization. "Wait, you mean this can take you anywhere?" she asked, finally turning to face Jack for clarification who was giving her a curious look. "Anywhere you can think of?" when Jack nodded she quickly said, "Couldn't this take us to Max then? What if I thought about him? What if I thought, 'Take me to wherever Max is.' Wouldn't it do it?" she asked, feeling excitement bubbling in the pit of her stomach. How ridiculous would they all feel if it was really that easy? They would've been wasting their time for nothing!

Jack bit his lip, seemingly hesitant to answer. Alice narrowed her eyes. "I don't think it works like that," he answered carefully.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Well usually you have to think of a specific place. It's not just about going wherever someone else is. Magic has its limitations that way," he told her gently, squeezing her hand when she looked away. "But even if you could, whoever's got Max has him hidden even from North's Globe. If he's been cloaked from that, he's been cloaked from the snow globes too."

"Couldn't we at least try?" Alice pressed desperately.

Jack didn't seem convinced and side-eyeing Sandy didn't help. "I think it'd be too dangerous. If it doesn't work there's no telling where it'll send us or if we'll be able to find our way back," he then relented, "But I'll ask North when we get back, okay? Let's just go and get this taken care of first. Deal?"

Alice couldn't quell the anxiety weighing heavy in her chest but she nodded anyway, too tired to fight him.

"Okay now keep a hold of my hand," he squeezed their fingers together for emphasis. "It's going to feel a little weird going through the portal but as long as you don't let go of me you'll be fine if only a bit dizzy coming out the other side."

Alice nodded, lacing their fingers together. Jack nodded to Sandy who motioned them to go first. Jack pulled Alice towards the portal and her stomach tugged the closer they got to it. She eyed the swirling vortex warily.

"You'll be fine," Jack assured her. "Don't let go."

And then he stepped into the portal, forcing Alice along with him. There was a tugging sensation in her belly and she yelped at the feeling of being tugged every which way like a rubber band being stretched too far. She felt the stress on her limbs and her core tightened and loosened unpleasantly before she surged forward with a shrill yell, landing roughly on a carpeted floor with a loud grunt. Her arm was twisted awkwardly and she peeled her hand away from Jack's, her palm sweaty and sticky.

"Yeah I've never been able to stick the landing," Jack moaned on his stomach next to her. Alice breathed heavily as she tried to slow her heart rate and waited for the room to stop spinning. Her stomach churned and she kind of felt like she'd been turned inside out. "Up you go," Jack huffed, grabbing her elbow and helping her to her feet. Her equilibrium was severely off-balance and she leaned into Jack for support until she could finally see straight.

"I didn't like that at all," she admitted, swallowing down the bile threatening to rise up in her throat. She didn't miss how Sandy landed gracefully on her other side.

"It takes some getting used to," Jack winced sympathetically, checking her over to make sure she didn't hurt herself. Besides the dizziness he warned her about and the nausea, she felt fine and when he was satisfied that she was alright he backed away to give her space. "Let's get this over with. Still probably not the best idea to hang around here too long."

Alice ran a finger through her hair. Even though she'd only been at the North Pole a few days, the house still smelled foreign to her like when you walk into someone's house for the first time and it smells distinctly different than your own. It was like she didn't recognize it anymore. Probably because Max wasn't there. He made it familiar.

Jack and Sandy followed her down the hallway and even though she paused to stare fitfully at the broken glass, she continued on to her closet with Jack's hand on her lower back urging her forward. She pulled open the closet door and skimmed through her clothes. She tugged a duffle bag down from the top shelf and threw some clothes inside followed by a pair of shoes. She felt awkward digging around in her underwear drawer with Jack and Sandy so close behind her but she managed to throw everything she needed inside before zipping it up, hiding the contents from sight.

When she turned back around, she saw Sandy standing over the shards of broken glass as he glanced up at the window. It didn't look as though the broken pieces bothered his feet even when he shifted on top of them. He tossed a generous handful of dream sand at the window and within seconds the window had repaired itself.

"Hey," Jack's voice rang in the room, sounding surprised. "I didn't know you could do that. I thought your dream sand was only good for putting people to sleep."

Sandy shrugged in a modest sort of way and Alice smiled a bit to herself before hooking the strap to the duffle over her shoulder. Jack scoped out the room, probably making sure no one else had been there and attempting to appear casual about it, before bending down behind one of the night stands. He stood back up and a cable dangled from his pale hand.

"Need this?" he asked with a playful smirk and Alice recognized it as her phone charger. She gave a brief smile before accepting it and placing it in one of the smaller pouches on the outside of the duffle. "Got everything?" he checked. Alice pursed her lips, eyes glancing about the room. She was thankful that Max's silhouette was no longer embedded in the sheets. She nodded and Jack grinned. "Great. Let's blow this popsicle stand."

With a hand on the small of her back again, Jack followed her out of the bedroom and back down the hall with Sandy in tow. The portal was still waiting for them when they returned and Alice's lips turned downward at the thought of going back through it. She almost preferred Jack flying them there if it were for the fact that it was freezing outside. Maybe Sandy would have a better means of transportation.

Something glittering in the light of the window caught her eye as Jack held out his hand for her to take again. She turned her head to see where it was coming from and noticed a book lying on the floor face down, looking to have been knocked over probably from when Max was taken. She furrowed her brows and held up a finger to Jack before walking towards it and kneeling, dropping the duffle next to her. The gold letters had been reflecting the sunlight and Alice immediately recognized it as _The Brothers Grimm_.

"Hey," she called, grabbing the book before standing. She turned around, idly flipping through the pages before thrusting the book upward as she looked at the two Guardians. "Maybe I should bring this with us. It's a book about fairy tales," she said, walking towards them and displaying the book's cover. Jack squinted as he read the front. "What better way to find a fairy tale than a book about all of them?"

"Where'd you get that?" Jack asked.

"For Christmas actually," she remarked, turning the leather bound book over in her hands. Sandy only appeared mildly interested in it. Jack made a hum in the back of his throat before walking over to retrieve her duffle, throwing it over his own shoulder instead.

"No harm in it I guess," he shrugged. "Hey, am I in it?" he grinned.

Alice laughed a bit. "I don't actually know, I haven't read all of it. Maybe?"

"Hmm," he headed back towards the portal and extended his hand for her to take. She took it, placing the book under her arm. "Hold tight," he warned before he stepped through the portal again.

It was just as unpleasant the second time as it was the first. Alice found landing on wooden floors was much more unappealing than landing on carpet and she groaned, stifling a hiss as she disentangled their hands again and pushed herself up in an uncoordinated flailing of limbs.

"Gah," Jack scrambled to his feet after kicking her duffle bag off of him. "I almost dislocated my shoulder," he rotated the joint with a wince.

Sandy seemed amused as he watched them recover.

Jack tossed the duffle bag onto her bed and Alice made sure the book hadn't gotten squashed underneath her.

"So do you maybe wanna change first or…?" he kept her in his line of sight as she began walking towards the doors before he even finished his sentence.

"I want to show North this book and see if he can find anything in it," she shouted over her shoulder, raising the book a bit so Jack could see what she was referring to as if he'd already forgotten about it. She heard the pitter patter of bare feet as Jack hurried to catch up with her. "I think we should also ask him about the portal thing, too. You know, just in case," she said as he fell into step beside her. Sandy hopped onto his cloud of dream sand and floated ahead of them.

"I guess we can do that first," Jack cautiously agreed. "I just think maybe you should take it easy for a while. Shower or something and change clothes."

"I've been taking it easy for three days," Alice retorted, the tendrils of guilt creeping up into her subconscious at the thought. "I've been useless up until now because I haven't been able to do anything. But maybe this book," she tapped her palm a few times on its cover for good measure and Jack's eyes remained steady on it after she pulled her hand away, "will tell us something we don't know. I need to find my son, Jack," she paused just outside the atrium of the workshop and gave Jack a pleading look for emphasis. "I _need_ to. He's my whole world and every day spent away from him feels like another piece of me's gone missing."

"I know," Jack whispered. "I know that finding Max is your top priority. Everyone knows it is," he hesitated for a moment, swinging his staff back and forth as if unsure whether or not he should voice his next question. "Are you sleeping alright at night?" he asked. Her spine stiffened a bit at the question but it wasn't noticeable to Jack's eyes who were currently gazing into hers with something akin to concern. "You've had bags under your eyes since yesterday."

Alice bit the inside of her cheek, mentally debating with herself whether or not she'd tell him what he wanted to hear. "I'm sleeping fine," she eventually settled with before breezing past him into the atrium in search of North. She heard Jack sigh behind her before he followed along a few paces back. She scoured the workshop, winding through each station and giving the yetis a wide berth as she looked for a head of white hair.

"He might be in his office," Jack supplied helpfully after about five minutes of searching.

Alice made to turn around before thinking better of it and giving Jack a feeble look. "Can you show me where that is?" she hadn't seen much of the North Pole besides the library, the atrium and the hallway leading to her room.

"Come on," Jack nudged her before leading the way down a corridor between the fireplace and Globe. They eventually reached another set of intricate large doors that were currently propped open.

The room smelled of candy canes and hot chocolate as they stepped inside. Jack tapped his staff against the doorframe to gain North's attention who was sitting at a grand desk in front of a roaring fire. He glanced up at the knocks, pulling a pair of half-moon reading glasses off his face once he saw them.

"Jack, Alice, you're back!" he announced, pushing his large chair back to stand. Alice carefully approached the desk, taking in the sight of the trinkets that were stashed about the room on cluttered bookshelves. There was a large oval window overlooking the courtyard as snowflakes gently fell past the glass. The room felt cozy and warm and she spotted a half-eaten tray of chocolate chip cookies on the corner of his desk. He caught her eyeing them and motioned to them welcomingly. She politely declined with a shake of her head. "Is there something you need?" he then asked.

"I actually wanted to talk about the book you gave me for Christmas," Alice said, tugging the book out into the open. Jack gave her a surprised look. She never mentioned it was North who gave it to her. "Maybe it has something in here we missed," she tried meekly, rubbing her thumb along the spine of the leather. "I know we're looking for someone who can create gold and make deals. I figured," she shrugged. "Maybe this book will tell us something your books didn't. Your books talk about the creatures in them like a book from my world would talk about regular mammals or sea creatures. But this book talks about them from a writer's perspective who only sees them for what they are: fairy tales," she explained, exhaling deeply. "I thought maybe it'd help us look at it from a different perspective."

North gave the book an odd look. He outstretched a beefy hand, "Let me see."

She handed the book to him and he leafed through it with a lick of his thumb, skimming through page after page. Alice shifted her hands nervously, hoping that he would happily declare 'aha!' and tell her that he found their culprit. When all that actually happened was him continuously flipping through the pages with the sound of the crackling fire to numb her thoughts, Alice felt antsy.

"Well?" she asked, sharing a glance with Jack who had his arms crossed and was leaning against the corner of North's desk.

North, for his part, seemed perplexed. "This book," he started carefully, finger trailing down one of the pages as he read. "For most part it speaks truth but someone has changed things."

Alice nodded a bit. "I guess that's bound to happen. Truth gets lost in translation and becomes fiction after the stories are passed down long enough. The Grimm stories are supposed to be dark anyway. Maybe they were twisted on purpose."

"It's strange to see so many I know of talked about in a novel from human world," he admitted. "I suppose adults are not so naïve after all."

Alice frowned a bit, sensing that his confusion about the book's origin was more than he was letting on. "Wait, you're the one who gave me the book to begin with. Didn't you already know that a human wrote it? Or two humans, rather. Brothers to be more specific."

North lifted his head sharply, giving her an alarmed look. "What did you say?"

"They were brothers—"

"No, no, no," he waved a large hand, exposing the scripted edges of his Naughty tattoo beneath his sleeve. "First part," he amended quickly.

"Um, you gave me the book?" she asked rather than stated, feeling tentative. The look on North's face was startlingly unnerving and Jack chuckled uncomfortably. Alice furrowed her brows when the man didn't immediately respond.

"What's wrong, North?" Jack asked lightly, if to at least get the conversation flowing again as North seemed to have been struck speechless. "You're looking at her like she took your firstborn child or something," he huffed a strained laugh. Alice's brain only briefly followed his words, too focused on North's facial expressions to really care, before backtracking so quickly she nearly got whiplash. Something about what Jack said struck a chord in her mind and before she knew what she was doing, she stepped up to North's desk.

"Hang on," she murmured, eyebrows pinched. "Can I see that?" she pointed at the book and North handed it over, still only granting her with that same unsettling look. She closed the spot North had previously been reading in favor of flipping to the Table of Contents. Her eyes darted across the page, searching for something in particular before her eyes ignited in recognition. She then placed the book on North's desk and opened it to the page the Table of Contents directed to. She made a noise in the back of her throat once she found it and deliberately placed her pointer finger on the page, glancing up at North and Jack with steady awareness.

Jack eyed North out of the corner of his eye before gazing down at the page Alice was pointing to. After a moment's hesitation North did the same.

" _Rump-el-stilt-skin_ ," Jack carefully read the name displayed across the top of the chapter.

"Rumpelstiltskin," Alice repeated forcefully with a nod. She spared North a fitful glance before returning her eyes back to the page. "A hard name to remember if someone doesn't know the story, wouldn't you say?" she countered wisely, referring to watch Pitch had said. "A miller's daughter, queen-to-be," she began to recite from memory, "is asked to spin straw into gold to prove her worth in order to become betrothed to the King. A man appears to her saying he can help. In return for her necklace, he'll spin the straw into gold. She agrees. The King is surprised once he sees the spun gold but greedily demands her to make more. The man returns and in exchange for her ring, he does it again," North and Jack listened carefully as she explained the legendary tale. "The third time she's asked to spin gold, the man asks for her firstborn child and in exchange he will spin even more gold. If she can figure out his name in three days' time, he'll let her keep the child. Of course," she nodded to herself, supporting her weight against the desk as they hung onto her every word. "The woman does end up learning his name and, well, as the story goes he gets so mad at losing the bet that he literally tears himself in two."

Jack grimaced at the image it put inside his head and North's bushy brows pulled together in distraught.

"Regardless of that, everything fits doesn't it?" she asked, tapping the page madly with her fist as she listed off, "Difficult name, has the ability to make gold, and has a knack for making deals to get what he wants. Have you ever heard of him before?" she glanced at North whose lips were pursed.

"Rumpelstiltskin," he repeated lowly, tasting the name on his tongue. "I know _of_ a man that goes by that name, though his story is _much_ different than this. But Alice," he shook his head, only to be interrupted by Jack.

"That's great!" Jack straightened, face alight with bright elation. "If this guy exists then that means we can track him, right? There's got to be a way," he reached across to squeeze Alice's arm and she gave him an unsteady smile.

" _Alice_ ," North stressed loudly, forcing her to pull her eyes away from Jack's face. North's blue eyes were wide and crisp as he stared at her, cheeks flushed. When she met his gaze he gestured vehemently to the book lying on display before them. There was an uneasiness pooling in the pit of her stomach at the look he was giving her. She couldn't understand what had made him so distressed, that is until he uttered with careful precision to where she cleanly understood,

"No matter what you may think or what it may have looked like," North said seriously. "I can promise you that I did _not_ give you this book."

* * *

 **A/N** : Anyone see that coming? I tried adding a few hints here and there about that particular fairy tale. Hehe. And I just wanted to lay a quick disclaimer here which is the main reason for this author's note. If any of you are fans of ABC's _Once Upon A Time_ , I just wanted to assure you now that this Rumpelstiltskin is _**not**_ the same as the one from the show nor will there be any striking similarities. Though I think it would be _brilliant_ to add Jack and the rest of the Guardians into the show (I even considered writing my own crossover once – can you imagine Jack Frost and Peter Pan in the same story? I would have _so_ much fun with that), that's _not_ what this is. I like to give my characters their own unique backstories and that includes the villains which is no exception here. I can't wait to introduce him more to the story and really flesh out his character. That's all. Until next time!


	15. Chapter 15

I'm a horrible person because it took me a month and a half to get this chapter out. Please don't throw things at me. But wow, 100 follows in total and 12 reviews for the last chapter? I love you guys. You're the best and I love reading your reviews. They make me all warm and fuzzy inside.

This chapter is a longer one. I had to actually break off a few hundred words because if I didn't the chapter would have just been way too long. But good news is that means some of chapter sixteen is already written haha. Hope you enjoy! :)

As a side note, it's starting to get hot outside where I live and I'm not a fan. Picture me lurking underneath a black umbrella hissing at the sun because I only thrive in cloudy, rainy weather.

* * *

 **Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen**

* * *

"First thing you must know about Rumpelstiltskin is that his story is legend. As your 'fairy tales' have been twisted over time, so have ours," North informed Alice knowingly.

As a group they sat amongst themselves at a rectangular table in the dining hall. The surface of the table was dusty and the room smelled stale. It was likely that the room was scarcely used. North stood at the head of the table, his large forearms on display as he supported his weight against it.

"I have never met Rumpelstiltskin before or know someone who has. But there are whispers of someone with that name."

"They're a little more than whispers, mate," said Bunny across from Alice. "Screams are more like it."

"Regardless," North waved a bejeweled hand. He shed his wool coat earlier, flashing his intricately inked arms about and Alice had a hard time not staring at them. "There's been no new word on the man for decades."

Alice felt Jack shift beside her. The cold that radiated off his body made the room feel slightly less stuffy. She was anxious to hear the backstory of the man who'd taken her son. Well, the man they were fairly certain took her son. Part of her felt like she truly didn't want to know. If the man was as evil as the fairy tales in her world made him out to be, the fear she had for Max's safety would only increase tenfold. She wasn't sure how much her mind could take.

North took a deep breath and schooled his features. "He belonged to Moon people, a calm and relatively human folk who thrived under Tsar Lunar's rule," he started.

Alice's fingers twitched in her lap and Jack reached a hand across to clasp one of her hands in his. Whether it was for his peace of mind because he loathed the nasty habit of her wringing her fingers or to help quell her nervousness, she wasn't sure. Either way, she held his hand back and the tension in both their shoulders seemed to ease.

"There was a time when his father was cursed with incredible dark magic. This darkness consumed him, making him greedy and harsh. For years this child had to endure his father's wrath and watch him transform into madman—a creature of the night who became horribly disfigured," Alice squirmed in her seat, remembering the man who came to her in a dream. "Then a shadow, hooded and cloaked, came forth one night and offered his father repentance to take back his misgivings if he passed his dark magic onto another. In return, he would be sent to salvation. Still consumed with greed, he accepted offer by damning his son to take his place," the hand holding Alice's squeezed. "His family's surname was Rumpelstilzchen but the Moonfolk always hissed, ' _Rumpelstiltskin_ ,' whenever they saw him because his skin had withered and stretched like leather.

"When son's soul was overtaken by dark magic, he chose to keep name Rumpelstiltskin to live up to the mockery his father left behind. Not long after, he was cast down to Earth because he posed threat to Tsar Lunar's people," he paused for a moment and Alice found she didn't know how to swallow the information. North's sparkling blue eyes met hers. "Even we fairy tales, as you call us, have our own legends and stories. I have heard nothing more of him besides this which has been passed down for centuries. I don't know why he hides behind name of 'Tom'. As our legends tell us, he was quite proud of claiming the ridiculed name."

"It sounds like the guy who offered his father repentance wanted the dark magic for himself," Jack stated with a frown. "I mean, why else would he come to him in the first place, you know? So why would he give the magic to his son instead?"

"There are a lot of unanswered questions," North said. "Alas, we don't have those answers. Manny might," North tilted his head in consideration of the idea. Alice looked on in confusion.

"Who's Manny?" she asked.

"He's the Man in the Moon," Tooth told her with an easy smile. "He's our guide and sort of like a superior to us. He chooses the Guardians."

"Why would he know?" Alice's forehead was wrinkled. She was mostly just genuinely curious.

North looked at her solemnly. "He is Tsar Lunar's son," Alice made a noise in the back of her throat in understanding. "If anyone knows whole story, it is Manny."

Jack seemed troubled at this new information. Alice gave him a concerned look, watching the flash of emotions contort his face as he seemed to consider something. Alice squeezed his hand to garner his attention and when his head snapped towards her, her brows furrowed, silently asking a question. He shook his head, more to shake the thoughts out of his head than anything else, and gave her an unconvincing smile before sliding down in his seat.

Alice's eyes lingered on his face until she was forced to blink. "This still doesn't explain the connection to Max," she finally tore her eyes away from the winter spirit. "It doesn't sound like this Rumpelstiltskin is anything like the one our world talks about. What reason would he have for taking Max? Unless we still think Pitch made a deal with him, but that still doesn't explain why he would want Max in particular."

"There is something else about him that's floated around," North started slowly. "I only cautiously mention it because none of us know if it is true. But if it is, it makes sense. See, Rumpelstiltskin did not ask to be cursed. Though he supposedly has reputation for deals, there are tales that he is trying to rid himself of dark magic. How? I don't know. But if our theory about souls is correct," North gave Jack a meaningful look to which Alice did not understand. "Max might be able to help him achieve that. That is only if our theory is correct and this rumor is indeed true."

"What theory about souls?" Alice felt the need to ask. North opened his mouth, only to have Jack's voice intercept him.

"It's nothing. As far as we know it's not true and it has nothing to do with Max so we're not worrying about it right now," Jack said with finality.

Alice didn't miss the way North's bushy brows twitched at Jack's words. Jack exchanged an unreadable look with the jolly man before giving Alice another smile, this one more convincing than the last.

Though she was hesitant to do so, she let her curiosity on the matter go for now. She didn't have the energy to try and convince Jack to divulge in something he didn't want to tell. If what he said was true about it having nothing to do with Max, then she didn't need to know. She was functioning on a strictly Need To Know basis at this point. Anything else was baggage she couldn't afford to carry. She put her faith in Jack and so far he hasn't let her down. That faith was like the oil that kept the machine running.

In this case, she was the machine.

"How about we focus less on the 'what' and more on the 'how do we hunt him down'," Bunny suggested, clenching his paws on the table.

"Out of all this, what bothers me most is how this book," North pushed _The Brothers Grimm_ into the middle of the table with the Guardians' eyes following it closely, "got into possession of Alice in first place. You said you found this the night I left presents, yes?" North raised a speculative eyebrow.

Alice nodded, shrinking a bit under the extra pair of eyes that flashed in her direction. "Right. It was sitting under the tree with the rest of them. It was the only one addressed to me."

"It had your name on it and nothing else?"

"Correct," she bit her lip. Jack's thumb caressed the top of her hand to soothe her.

" _Tom_ obviously had something to do with that," Bunny exclaimed immediately. "When you think about it, it's almost too easy for Alice to have figured out who he was by looking in the book. If y'ask me, that's the whole reason he put it there. He wanted her to find out."

"But why make it easier for us?" Tooth frowned.

"Hell if I know," Bunny shrugged as if the logic of a villain went over his head. "But it all makes sense. However twisted it is."

"Would he have maybe had time to hide the present under your tree after North left?" Tooth directed her question at Alice.

Alice shook her head. "No, it didn't take me more than five minutes to realize it was there and we never left the room. Come to think of it, we were facing the tree the entire time. If something were to have happened, I would've noticed."

"So the only logical explanation is that it was in your sack to begin with," Bunny pointed at North who looked deeply troubled by his words. "He must've put it there somehow. Probably around the same time he messed with the Globe."

"When would he have been able to do that?" Jack glanced around the table uncertainly. "You're always in the workshop. He would've had to have been in two places at once, if he was even able to get in. I tried breaking into the workshop a few times," he lamented dryly. "I think I'd know how hard it is. Meaning practically impossible."

Sandy thrust his tiny arms up and waved them about, a sparkling ball of sand glowing above his head in the shape of a sleigh being pulled by reindeer.

"Sandy's right," said Bunny. "The only time the workshop was vulnerable was when you were out delivering presents on Christmas Eve."

"But he would've had to have slipped past yetis," North's moustache fluttered as his lips twitched downward. "That is no easy feat."

"Pitch did it," Bunny reminded him. "Why can't he?"

Alice continued to lean back in her chair, turning her head every which way as if following an erratic tennis match. Considering she knew very little about North's workshop or personal items, she didn't bother trying to intervene. Instead, she allowed herself to focus on the pad of Jack's thumb tracing invisible lines into the skin between her thumb and pointer finger. Every so often a tiny, glittering trail of blue frost would follow in his thumb's wake, briefly numbing the surface of her skin.

"Something does not add up," North waggled a finger, brows pulled taut. "I don't think he did all of this on his own. Like Jack said, he would have been in two places at once. Sack is always with me and I check it before every delivery. Only time it would have not been in my sight was during flight. And only time Globe was vulnerable was when I wasn't there."

Bunny reclined in his chair. "We have proof he was at the kid's house."

"But the sack I keep presents in is sealed by magic different from that of Globe," North shook a fist furiously. "It cannot easily be broken, not even by Pitch. Even if he wanted book to go to Alice, he would have needed help to do it."

"So he's suckered another poor sap into a deal," Bunny tossed his furry arms behind his head, shrugging again. "Do his dirty and in return… what? He gets to _keep_ his soul?" Bunny uttered sarcastically.

Alice watched as Tooth's face slackened into the realization that North was on to something. "He was somehow able to get Pitch's powers back," she stated. Her wings fluttered anxiously behind her, blocked by the arms of the chair she was sitting in like they were unable to breathe. "Who's able to find and tether dark magic like that? It's so unstable without a host."

"I stand by what I said earlier: he had help," said North.

"What about Alice?" Jack perked up a bit in his seat. Alice eyed him in confusion, as did the rest of the Guardians. "If this Tom guy wanted _Alice_ to find the book and he took _her_ son, who's to say this isn't just a game that's being played on her?"

That did not sit well with Alice. She hadn't even considered the possibility that Tom was after her. Even more evidence to support the theory: she still had a dream about him and she still hasn't told anyone about it. She idly wondered if she should. But she couldn't be certain that what she saw in her dream was really him getting inside her head or if it was just a figment of her imagination due to stress. Plus the fact of what he said to her in the dream, about none of the Guardians being real and her being trapped inside her own head.

Though for the most part she was able to reel in those concerns, she still had moments where she found herself questioning the reality around her. And that scared her more than she cared to admit.

The Guardians didn't realize it, but whether Tom was after her or not, the joke was already on her.

"We will need more protection. As a back-up," North announced, seemingly agreeing with Jack's hypothesis. The jolly man studied the tabletop with precision before he suddenly lifted his head, eyes bright. "I say we rekindle our alliance with the Fae."

Alice needed to push the subject away from her. "No, guys, I have all the protection I need right here," she denied, leaning forward to emphasis her point. "We need to focus on finding Max. Forget about me."

North dismissed her with a rueful shrug. "The Fae may know how to track him," his eyes danced around the other Guardians. "I say we seek out the Seelie Court."

"No!" Bunny howled in outrage, spastically jerking forward. "Not the faeries, North! I _hate_ faeries."

"Hey!" Tooth yelped in offense, glaring fiercely at the Pooka. Bunny gave her a semi-apologetic look. Alice was just confused again; a rather common occurrence, she was beginning to realize.

"What's the Seelie Court?"

* * *

Alice curled her feet underneath her as she snacked on the brownies and milk the elves brought to her. She was resting against the window, looking out into the snowy plateau that littered the Pole in sparkling white. The velvet cushion was soft underneath her, making for a nice sitting area amidst the grand window pane in the hallway outside the library.

Jack was sitting cross-legged in front of her, using the tip of his staff to draw shapes into the glass with light frost. She watched the intricate patterns he decorated silently, chewing the warm brownie slowly to savor the taste. In the back of her mind, Alice wondered how she was managing to live solely off of the sweets North's elves baked in the kitchen. How did they have enough sustenance to keep her from feeling hungry? She figured it must've been something beyond the average meal back home that she would never fully understand. She found she didn't need to understand most magical things to accept that they were there.

Towards the end of their earlier conversation, North briefly explained the Seelie Court. From what Alice took from it, they were light faeries who seemed to get along with most other beings, including humans. As light faeries, they didn't accept lies or deceit. In the verbally spoken word, they only uttered the truth which North said may work in their favor.

Their counterparts, the Unseelie Court, consisted of dark faeries that apparently weren't so friendly.

Both Courts had an age-old alliance with the Guardians; a fact that North didn't go into detail on, though Alice knew there was more to the story than he was letting on. Regardless of that, he truly seemed to believe that meeting with the Seelie Court would help their situation.

Or, at least, it certainly wouldn't hurt it. Alice hoped.

North explained that the Seelie Court thrived at twilight and advised that they would make for their dwelling at sunset which was only about an hour's time away. In the meantime, he advised that Alice get some food in her stomach because it was bound to be a long night. Apparently the Seelie Court's waking hours didn't correlate with the rest of the world's. Their morning was everyone else's night.

Simply put, they were nocturnal.

Though to be honest, Alice wasn't quite sure if they actually slept at all.

Blinking out of her trance, Alice took another bite of her brownie as Jack finished his window design. He pulled his staff back with a sigh and Alice watched as the frost slowly faded from the glass until it disappeared out of sight. She shifted a bit until their knees touched and extended the plate of brownies in offering.

Jack glanced at the plate and with a tired smile he accepted one.

Alice rested the plate back in her lap, suddenly feeling sheepish. "I guess technically you don't need to eat, do you?"

Jack shrugged, leaning his staff on the wall behind him as he picked at the brownie. "No, not really. The cravings never really went away though," he gave her a lighthearted smirk, popping a piece of the brownie in his mouth.

Alice smiled back, equally tired. It was hard to imagine that their day was only just half over. "Sometimes I forget that you're this mystical being," she shook her head. "You just seem so… _normal_."

"As opposed to being abnormal?" he continued to smirk easily at her and she rolled her eyes. He ate some more of his brownie, looking at her closely. Alice took a sip of her milk to avoid fidgeting underneath his gaze. "How are you doing?" he asked after another minute of quietness.

Alice shrugged, huffing out a laugh. "I don't even know," she played with the brownie she picked up, pulling it into pieces and sprinkling crumbs in her lap. "I thought…" she paused, pursing her lips. "I thought knowing who took Max would make things easier," she glanced up at Jack and met his stare. "I thought by finally knowing, I'd feel… I don't know, hopeful? Like we were actually getting somewhere? But," she laughed again and disconnected their gaze, "honestly? I think I feel worse."

Jack hummed in sympathy. "I wish we knew more about this Tom guy. Or Rumpelstiltskin—whatever his name is. But I guess for now we just hope that the Seelie Court will be able to help. Hey," he nudged her knee with his, pulling her eyes back up. "If they're able to track him like North said then that's one thing we wouldn't be able to do ourselves, right?"

"I guess so," Alice had reduced the brownie to pure crumbs and clumps on the plate. "I just miss him. I keep wondering if he's okay or not and hoping that he is but I think I'd know if he wasn't?" she winced. "I don't know how but I think I'd just know. So… I think he is okay right now. But I just miss him. And I hope he isn't too scared or doesn't think we're not trying to find him."

"He knows," Jack nodded, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "He knows that you love him and that you'll do everything in your power to make sure he gets home safe."

Alice laughed a little, wiping her hands off. "Sometimes I feel like you have more faith in me than I do."

"Well," Jack grinned, eyes twinkling in the dimming afternoon light. "You believe in me. The least I could do is believe in you, too. Even if you don't believe in yourself."

A lump was forming in Alice's throat. Part of it was because she was talking about Max and whenever she talked or thought about him for too long, her eyes started to burn. But another part of it was because of Jack. Not necessarily what he said to her, but just the mere thought of _Jack_ himself.

"You know," she said carefully, sounding a bit nasally but not letting any tears fall. "I don't think I ever properly thanked you. For all that you've done… for Max, for me… I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't been there," her eyes bore into his with a seriousness she didn't know she was capable of. She half-expected Jack to squirm under the gaze but instead he just stared right back, listening. Like he always did. "I probably would've gone into panic mode. You… you kept me grounded," Jack's eyes wandered from hers for a split second like he was bashful. "You knew what to do. And you haven't stopped trying to find Max. I can't thank you enough for that. These kids," Alice shook her head slowly. "They're really lucky to have you."

Jack's lips curved upward and though it may look like a smirk to others, Alice could tell that it was a genuine smile underneath.

"Well," he repeated, bowing his head before looking back up at her. "You know you have me, too. Right? You have me just as much as they do."

"Yeah," said Alice quietly. "Yeah, I know."

"I think I still kind of owe you one, though," Jack said and Alice tilted her head in question. "I mean, first you believed in me," Jack listed off. "And then you went and made my life—or existence, rather—better. I've only helped you out with Max. See, two to one," he grinned at her. "So I owe you."

Alice laughed lightly. "You underestimate yourself. You helping with Max is worth way more than just one point. Technically I still owe you."

Jack stubbornly shook his head. "Nope. Not true."

Alice rolled her eyes, unable to keep the smile off her lips. "Fine. You've made my life better too so that means we're tied. We don't owe each other anything," she quirked an eyebrow, blowing a pesky curl out of her eyes. "Fair?"

Jack's eyes danced across her face, mapping out all her features as the sky began to dim.

"Yeah I guess that's fair," he murmured. In a quick second, he reached across to brush the curly strand of hair away from her face. His cold fingers lingered on her cheek for a moment and Alice watched him calmly, appreciating the coolness even though she felt rather cold sitting near the window in her sweater.

Jack's lips twitched as his eyes searched hers. His silvery white hair was nearly glowing in the soft light spilling in from the snow outside and it made him look ethereal again. Otherworldly. Alice had to wonder how he was real. And this time, it had nothing to do with her dream.

"How are you real?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

Jack's eyes sparked to life in a glittering blue the way his fingers did when they danced across her skin. It was like his magic reached his eyes. "I could ask you the same thing."

Alice's gaze at the winter spirit was nearly magnetic and she couldn't bring herself to look away. She could see the Arctic in his eyes; the little flecks of gold towards the top of his irises reminded her of a sun setting beneath the water's horizon. The white-blue flecks towards the bottom of his irises were ice caps floating along the surface of the water. And the way his eyes shimmered glossy and bright was the reflection of the sky in the water. His eyes were practically works of art and she found herself wanting to gaze into them for ages at a time in the hopes that one day she'd see a glacier.

Jack pursed his lips before finally pulling his hand away, leaving an emptiness on her cheek that felt stronger without his touch. He smiled at her again and she smiled back without having to think about it. It took a while for her eyes to focus once she blinked.

"We should probably head back," he tilted his head towards the end of the hallway. "The sun's setting which means they'll probably be looking for us soon."

Alice nodded. "Right, yeah."

Neither of them moved.

Jack chuckled lowly before swinging his legs over the edge of the window pane, sitting on the edge and inevitably bringing them closer. Alice uncrossed her legs, mirroring his position and the sides of their thighs touched.

She gave him a small smile, eliciting a similar one out of him before she finally pushed herself away from the window. She stretched, allowing her spine to crack, before she began making her way down the hall.

When she didn't hear Jack immediately following her, she paused a few feet away and turned to see him sitting in the same position, eyes holding steady on her.

She reached a hand out—not too far, but just enough to where he understood the offering—and something in his eyes flashed before he stood. He grabbed his staff and then approached her swiftly, accepting her outstretched hand.

She felt something flutter in her stomach, like the implications behind what just happened were deeper than just face value. It represented their relationship in a way. Whenever Alice asked for Jack, he always came running.

And as such, when she began walking down the hall, Jack followed close behind her because that's what he always did. He followed her.

The tray of brownies was left forgotten on the windowsill beneath the setting sun, crumbs and all.

* * *

The first thing Alice saw when she passed through the atrium was Bunny clipping wrist guards over his forearms. He had his boomerangs strapped to his furry back and as Alice approached him with Jack trailing behind her, she saw the tension in his stiff brow line.

"Are you okay?" she frowned. She'd never seen Bunny so on edge.

"I don't trust faeries," he grumbled, tightening one of the wrist guards as he glared at the floorboards. Alice's eyes wandered over to where Tooth was fluttering near Sandy and North as they conversed quietly. She had to remind herself that Tooth didn't apply to these faeries.

"Why not?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She had to tilt her head up to see his face, straining the muscles in her neck. She realized that up until this point they've never stood side-by-side and she found his height a bit alarming. Part of her was still getting used to seeing a human-sized bunny standing on its hind legs walking around like everyone else. "Didn't North say they didn't have the ability to lie?"

Bunny looked like he tasted something sour. "Lies are the least of your worries when dealing with the Fae. They have other means of persuasion," he grimaced. "Enchantments and illusions—they deceive with the mind," North gestured everyone forward with a shout and Bunny adjusted the straps that held his boomerangs. "Don't let 'em get inside your head," he muttered before brushing past her.

Alice felt nervous. "How do I keep them from doing that?" she murmured to herself.

Jack nudged her forward with his shoulder and she joined the Guardians who formed a circle near the grand fireplace. One of North's hands disappeared inside his red wool coat before emerging with an unpleasantly familiar object. The snow trickled delicately inside the sphere and Alice had to stop herself from wondering how an inanimate object could transport a person from one place to another in fear of giving herself a migraine.

"No sleigh?" Jack asked, sounding disappointed.

"Dryads do not like loud noise," said North, deflating a bit himself at the thought of abandoning his beloved sleigh. "I made that mistake once. I don't intend to do it again."

Alice's stomach churned in anticipation. "Where is the Seelie Court exactly?"

"Northern Woods," North said and Alice's brows furrowed.

"It's the realm of the Fair Folk," Tooth supplied. "Nymphs, Dryads, Elves, Faeries, Pixies..."

Bunny leaned in close. "The soft faces," he added as if the term would mean something to her.

Alice shifted her weight from one foot to the other as North concentrated on the globe before pulling his elbow back like he was preparing to throw a hardball.

"Northern Woods!" he bellowed before tossing the globe. It exploded over the wooden panels and the air shifted, causing Alice's stomach to churn and coil with unease.

She watched as the portal glowed bright and colorful before them, rippling in midair like the surface of a lake or pond might on a windy day. Alice watched the swirling vortex, feeling a tugging sensation in her belly button as she watched the portal's center as if it was beckoning her forward. The longer she stared into it, the more it felt like she was balancing on a cliff's edge.

"You can hold my hand if you want," Jack murmured from her left. She turned to look at him and he gave her a teasing grin. He offered her his palm, blue eyes sparkling, and when she felt—literally _felt_ —North jump through the portal she took his cold hand without hesitation. Like hell she was going to jump in alone. What if it took her to the wrong place because she wasn't thinking clearly? She didn't know how that worked. Did it only take you to the place the person who created the portal wanted it to go? Or could you change its course on your own? She wasn't willing to risk the repercussions and find out.

Jack looked momentarily surprised that she accepted his hand but his fingers entwined with hers and she felt a little more comfortable knowing he was there.

"See ya on the other side," Bunny saluted before pouncing in. Sandy and Tooth followed suit and before Alice was ready (she would never be ready) it was their turn.

"It'll be fine," Jack assured her and his hand squeezed hers before he dove in. Alice squeezed her eyes shut and let herself be pulled in behind him.

She felt herself being stretched every which way. Her stomach jolted and tightened and her ears rang before the electricity on her skin ceased and she was being slammed into the grass with a loud _thud!_ She groaned, knowing the ground was coming but also not expecting it at all and her forearms protested because she'd landed on them. There'd be bruises in the morning.

There was a dull buzzing in her skull as she rolled onto her back, waiting for the earth to stop spinning long enough to where she could see straight. She blinked a few times, clenching her fists and realizing that in the midst of being pulled taut in the portal she'd let go of Jack's hand. She licked her lips as her eyes finally adjusted and she was met with a purple sky bleeding through a high canopy of brilliant green trees.

It took her a good minute before she was properly on her feet. She was teetering back and forth a bit and she sort of felt like a toddler that was learning how to walk. Her mouth felt dry and she swallowed thickly, watching as North brushed his wool cloak off. Bunny's large ears twitched as his eyes scanned the area, back hunched in offense like he was ready for an attack.

Alice let herself spin in place as she admired the Northern Woods. The air smelled of lavender and freshly cut grass and she found herself relaxing. The vegetation and trees were thriving, vivid and healthy as they swayed in the breeze and their leaves almost twinkled every time one of the sun's rays hit them just right. Alice could almost taste the magic in the air, could practically feel the soil humming with it beneath her feet. She'd never felt anything like it. For a moment, she wondered why Bunny disliked the place so much.

"Seelie Court is just this way," North gestured ahead with a beefy hand.

He led the way, weaving through the tree trunks and Bunny motioned her forward so he could take up the rear of the group. Jack returned to her side, a place she found he often was, and they walked side by side behind Tooth. Alice's eyes continuously swept over the area, watching with a serene smile as birds chirped in their nests and a few squirrels darted up a tree.

"Are there any dryads here?" Alice whispered to Jack. He shrugged because he was just as new to the area as she was but Tooth glanced over her shoulder.

"They usually don't linger too close to the Seelie Court's entrance. For respect," she told them quietly.

"Are we really that close to them?" Alice asked.

Tooth pointed a tiny, luminescent finger. "It's right there."

Alice followed her line of sight and blinked at the vast willow tree painted with pale green leaves that hung over the earth like an elegant canopy. A few pink flowers decorated the grass around the tree—flowers that didn't seem to grow anywhere else that Alice could see—and the grass seemed to soften as they approached the ancient willow.

The lighting began to grow dim as the sun finished its descent. Alice watched with awe as a few glowing lights twinkled in the ground, seemingly out of nowhere, to help light their path in the ebbing darkness. Off in the distance she caught sight of a few green lights floating calmly in the air and was stunned to realize that they were some sort of firefly.

They reached a wall of dangling branches. 'Wall' was a literal term because Alice couldn't see anything beyond the branches and leaves, not even a glimpse of the tree trunk that was tucked away somewhere within the canopy. North steeled his expression and straightened his spine.

"They're expecting us," he announced. Not necessarily in an ominous sort of way but nevertheless Alice felt uncomfortable with the fact that they already knew they were there. "The way it works when visiting Fae is that they only grant clemency to pass into Court if one's intentions are pure," he cleared his throat before turning to face the rest of the group who was glancing between him and the wall of branches anxiously. "I'm sure we'll be fine but we won't know until we try to pass through branches."

"You first," Bunny retorted from behind Alice.

North gave the warrior bunny a scowl as he pulled his wool coat tighter around himself. He turned back to face the looming branches hanging before him and with a deep breath, he stepped through the branches. Tooth and Sandy who were standing immediately behind him trailed in after. The branches appeared to swallow them whole and Alice was fairly certain she was beginning to sweat.

A hand enclosed around hers tightly and she didn't have to look to know who the cold hand belonged to. Bunny nudged her back with his large paw and she stepped forth with Jack at her side, feeling the leaves tickle her face and brush against her hair as she walked through the branches. She felt Bunny's presence at her back as the world momentarily darkened around them and the air cooled before they were standing within a long, winding tunnel.

Alice blinked at the sudden change in scenery, feeling the soil beneath her shoes and catching glimpses of buried roots and tree bark embedded into the tunnel walls around them. Were they underground?

"Well that wasn't so bad," Tooth's voice rang melodically, echoing into the eerie silence.

North spun around and hunkered forward towards Alice. "Alice, I must warn you before we continue," he uttered in a hushed whisper. "If they offer you anything to eat or drink, whatever you do, do _not_ take it. I'm sure you've heard stories in your world of faeries taking human free will by offering them food or drink of their homeland? Well, in this case, stories are _true_ ," Alice nodded, her knees feeling weak. North glanced up at everyone else. "It does not work on us Guardians but I'd suggest none of you accept anything either. Just… politely decline."

With that, he had his back to them again. It was then that Alice noticed a figure standing off to their right at the entrance of another tunnel. She attempted to nudge whoever was closest to her to get their attention which happened to be Bunny, who was standing to her right and a bit behind her. She gestured towards the still figure and Bunny narrowed his eyes, ears falling back against his head in offense.

As if the figure was waiting to be spotted, they elegantly stepped forward into the light and Alice's eyes widened. It was obvious to her that this was a Seelie faery. She couldn't quite tell if this Fae was a male or female with its chest plate of intricate gold armor covering its torso, but its cheekbones were high and sharp with a prominent hairline underneath an intricate wooden headdress molded into the shape of a crown. The skin was a delicately smooth shade of pale purple along the Fae's face that could almost pass for a cream-white.

The eyes were what startled Alice, though. They were a solid shade of lavender that seemed to glow in the darkness of the tunnels with the dim lighting reflecting white spots in the purple irises. It made her uncomfortable because she couldn't tell who the faery was looking at without a pupil to guide her.

Bunny noticeably stiffened at the faery's appearance, fur rising along his back. If the faery noticed his discomfort, it didn't comment on it.

"Welcome to the Seelie Court," the faery greeted in a deep voice that flowed like liquid honey. "Our Queen is currently incapacitated at the moment but you may speak to our Queen Regent. If you will follow me."

Alice stiffly followed along behind Tooth, feeling a bit claustrophobic as the tunnel enclosed around them the further they walked. Jack had removed his hand the minute they started walking and instead held it steady on the small of her back. She focused on that as she peeked around Tooth's fluttering wings. It was too dark to see the faery clearly a few steps ahead. She attempted to find their wings but they must've been hidden underneath the long golden cloak that billowed behind them.

All the relaxation that Alice felt in the Northern Woods had completely diminished at this point as a light reached their sight at the end of the tunnel. She found she didn't feel comfortable here. Whether it was because the faery's eyes frightened her or the knowledge that they were surrounded by powerful beings made her feel caged in, she wasn't sure. Either way, she had to swallow down the urge to run as far away from this Fae in front of them as fast as she could.

This was for Max. They were there for Max.

"Easy, princess," Jack's lips tickled her ear as he leaned in. Alice jumped, startled at the sudden close proximity, and Jack moved his hand from the small of her back to her hip where he squeezed. "You're shaking like a leaf," he murmured.

She felt her hands trembling at her sides and she licked her lips, attempting to force the tremors away as they reached the end of the tunnel. And it was like an explosion of light and color as they entered a grand room that extended high above their heads; so high in fact that Alice was unable to see the top.

The walls were made of polished wood in all different shades of browns and light reds. It was like they were within the hollow of a massive tree. The floor was decorated with mosaic tiles in flowing patterns of color and she could hear the clicking of the Fae's boots in front of them as it walked.

Alice's mouth hung open as her eyes followed the set of winding staircases that circled the exterior of the room. They extended beyond her sight and far out of reach, twinkling lights similar to the ones they'd seen outside dotting the staircases' rails for lighting. From down below where Alice continued to walk, those lights look like stars twinkling in the night sky above their heads.

The room was bustling with other faeries. They were all donned in different colored cloaks with their own unique headdresses. Not all of them were wearing armor, she noticed. A few were dressed in gowns and others in breeches with knee-high boots. Some were quite tall and others remained around Alice's height. She noticed that most of the tall ones were clad in armor. She didn't know the specific terms, especially in a world of faeries, but she could only assume those faeries belonged to some sort of royal guard. Their headdresses were similar to that of the Fae guiding them; a gaunt, wooden crown.

Each faery had the same soft complexion and those eerie, lavender-colored eyes. And they were all watching Alice and the Guardians closely as they passed by. Alice felt like her mind was being peeled open and examined and she forced her eyes away from them, afraid that if she made eye contact they'd weasel their way inside her head like Bunny had warned.

They ascended a few steps and filed down one of the rounded corridors that were carved out of the wooden walls. Alice released a breath once they were out of sight of the rest of the population. She allowed herself to freely look about the area around them, noticing a few doorways leading into other rooms or down different hallways. Each threshold was outlined in a golden finish to border the doorway as if to reinforce their elegance.

The hallway curved to the right and they were met with two other Seelie faeries standing guard over a closed door. One of them had long mahogany hair cascading over their shoulder and falling down to the top of their waist. The other had their hair concealed within their crown. Their glowing purple eyes met the Fae who led Alice and the Guardians and with a nod, the one with the mahogany hair turned back to open the door.

"Queen Regent, you have guests," the faery announced, voice much higher-pitched than the faery who guided them. Alice leaned forward in curiosity but never heard a response. Regardless, the faery bowed their head before granting their group entrance to the Queen's chambers.

Alice took a deep breath and attempted to school her features as she stepped through the grand doorway into the lush chamber. Jack stepped close to her, turning his body to where his back faced the Fae who allowed them in to block Alice from its sights as they passed by. Though the Fae was much taller than Jack and could easily scrutinize Alice from head to toe if it so desired, she appreciated the gesture.

Jack remained at her side the second the door closed behind them and she was thankful for the familiarity he gave her in such a strange domain.

 _I'm here for Max,_ she reminded herself again. _I'm here to get my son._

That was all the resolve she needed.

* * *

 **A/N:** As a side-side note, I've been listening to "The Last Goodbye" by Billy Boyd on repeat for the last week (I listened to it while writing this. It's a wonder the whole chapter didn't turn into a tragedy) and even though The Hobbit ended like a year and a half ago I'm still not okay. But good news is Civil War comes out in sixteen days so that might pull me out of my funk. That's all.


	16. Chapter 16

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen**

* * *

Jackson Overland had melded his life into one continuously spinning wheel over the past year.

Ever since his seventeenth birthday he's accepted new responsibilities that most kids his age have to confront sooner or later. The only difference is most of his friends were annoyed with these responsibilities whereas Jack couldn't be more excited. Ever since his father succumbed to illness and lost the ability to work in the fields, Jack had been eager to step up and take his place. He liked knowing that his family relied on him. That they needed him.

Even though his father was on the mend, Jack knew hard labor was something he'd never be able to pursue again. His strength and energy had been cut in half from months of sickness and his body was now weathered beyond his years. He looked about a decade older than he truly was and the bags under his eyes were more or less permanent. It worried Jack but ever since the color in his cheeks returned, the anxiety in his stomach had quelled. It was the healthiest he'd seen his father in a year and he wasn't taking that for granted.

Unfortunately, the months Hector Overland spent on bed rest really put a damper on the family financially. His mother took up sewing and repairing clothing for the townsfolk (before it had simply just been a hobby of hers) and Jack was all too willing to accept a job harvesting crops and assisting at the mill for extra money once he became of age. The farming helped pay for their food and chopping wood at the mill kept Grace's tutor coming three times a week to help with her studies.

This meant that Jack's studies had to be put on hold but he didn't care. He felt more useful working rather than learning multiplication or Latin. Plus Grace really loved to learn and why not let the sibling who actually enjoyed school continue it? She was just shy of five years younger than Jack but it was clear she had a brilliant mind that showed a lot of promise. There hadn't been a scholar in the Overland family for decades but at the rate Grace was going she was going to break the dry spell quick. It was obvious their parents were proud and Jack couldn't stop the envy that burned in his chest. But they also seemed pleased with the money Jack was bringing in so that really boasted his confidence a bit. It was nice to know he was actually _good_ at something. Academics had never really been his strong suit.

But as mentioned before, Jack's life had become a wheel that continued to spin in the same direction every day. He woke up at first light, brought in a fresh pail of water from the well so his mother could start breakfast, then he bid his family farewell to plant and harvest crops until lunch. He wasn't so bothered by the routine. His father's descent into illness had been something none of them expected so he could appreciate knowing what his day-to-day life was going to be like.

Sometimes it wasn't easy working in the weather, especially when winter rolled around and the breezes nipped painfully at his cheeks. Jack soldiered on without complaint, wrapping a scarf tightly around his chin and nose that smelled greatly of rose petals and fresh soap. It was something his mother made him as a gift for his seventeenth birthday. When the days grew cold he never parted from it. He much preferred that to the hot summer days where his clothes stuck to him from the sweat and he panted beneath the sun's powerful rays. He really hated summer. He hated the sun.

It was a particularly warm day in mid-August. Hector had gotten a job working at the local post office where he sorted incoming deliveries of letters and packages. It was easy on him plus he got off work earlier than Jack. He was waiting for him as the brunette boy slowly trailed home after a grueling session at the mill. The heat was making Jack lethargic and dizzy and he'd made more trips to the well for water than he sawed planks of wood. It wasn't his best day but he had a feeling the mill's owner spared him from a lecture because he'd been sweating up a storm as well.

Jack pulled his shirt off halfway home and was wiping his brow with a wince as he stepped inside. He sighed in relief at the shade. It was still stuffy but all their windows were open, giving the kitchen a comfortable cross breeze that made the room feel less stifling.

"Evening son," Hector greeted amicably from the dining room table. He glanced up at the boy with a hooded smirk. "Rough day?"

"No kidding," Jack grimaced at the sticky shirt. He tossed it into a basket with the rest of their laundry before throwing on a loose shirt that was hanging up along the back wall. It briefly crossed his mind that he shouldn't dirty a clean shirt but he didn't care. "I can't wait until the snow gets here."

Hector hummed. "So Mr. Brown spoke with me today," he mentioned casually as if he'd been waiting for the opportune moment to slip it in.

Jack spared his father a wary glance. "Is that so?" he peered curiously into the cauldron of stew his mother was cooking and she smacked his wrist before he could grab the spoon to sneak a taste.

"Indeed," said Hector, attempting to sound aloof. "He mentioned that Isabelle is turning seventeen next month."

"Uh-huh," Jack squinted. He wasn't stupid. He hoped his open distaste towards the subject was enough to deter his father but clearly the man wasn't at all discouraged.

"She's growing into a fine young lady," Hector continued, ignoring the looks of exasperation Jack was shooting his way. "No doubt she'd make a fine bride one day as well," he pointed out, also very casual.

Jack rolled his eyes at Grace who was seated at the table with their father. She giggled into her fist at his irritated look. Neither of the siblings were very fond of Isabelle Brown. She didn't like getting her dress dirty or spending any inordinate amount of time outside which Grace immediately disliked. She was a pretty face, sure, but Jack much preferred spending time with a girl who didn't act as though she had a stick lodged up her ass. That's not something he'd ever say out loud (at least in the presence of his father) but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he was very much opposed to any sort of courtship his father was attempting to bestow upon the two.

Apparently Mr. Brown was becoming more and more accustomed to the idea which irked Jack. Obviously hassling someone for years on end about marrying their oldest children eventually worked with the right kind of persuasion that his father clearly possessed. Jack liked to call it 'obsession' but his father never appreciated that term.

"I'm sure she would, father. Any idea who might be interested?" he asked in a pointed sort of way. The unspoken ' _not me_ ' was clear as day but his father dutifully ignored it in favor of giving his son an unimpressed look.

"You're already seventeen, Jack. Getting married and starting a family are things you should seriously start considering. I'm just trying to help you," he gave Jack a frustrated look as if Jack was being difficult just to spite him.

Jack suppressed an eye roll with great difficulty while his mother watched the two of them from her place at the counter as she rinsed and diced vegetables to mix into the stew.

"That's great but I think I should get to choose who I marry. I mean, marriage is eternal. I think I deserve to pick who I get to spend the rest of my life with," Jack responded with equal heat. It'd been a while since this conversation had come up but it wasn't at all uncommon for it to end in a fight.

"What is it about Isabelle that you don't like?" Hector asked as if he couldn't fathom someone actively detesting the banker's daughter.

Jack ran a hand through his floppy hair. The strands of brown were beginning to fall down into his eyes. Ever since he started working he'd been neglecting his appearance. His skin had also begun to darken considerably from standing so long in the sun. He had a habit of working without a shirt throughout the summer season and he didn't miss the way Isabelle would ogle him from her trips to and from the well. There was one time he was getting water at the well around the time she'd stopped by to fill a bucket and her father happened to stumble upon the two of them as Isabelle attempted to make awkward conversation. Jack may not have liked her but he didn't want to be impolite in case that circled back to his family so he reciprocated while also trying to bring it to an abrupt end as soon as possible so he could leave.

In retrospect, seeing them talking without the influence of adults was probably what sold Mr. Brown on the idea of them courting in the first place.

"She's just… not what I'm looking for," he finally said after some consideration. "She doesn't know how to relax. Plus I hardly even know her," he exclaimed. He began to tug out a chair next to Grace to sit but his mother _tsked_ and demanded that he set the table instead. He grudgingly did as she asked and Hector wasn't convinced.

"Your mother and I were complete strangers when we married. After a few months of living together we became quite close. I'm very fond of her now, as it were."

"'Very fond'?" his mother asked with a cocked eyebrow and a playful smile. Hector's face softened at her teasing and Jack wanted to hate the loving look but couldn't bring himself to. Despite being a teenage boy who went out of his way to _not_ partake in any sort of emotional bonding, he couldn't help but feel nothing but joy whenever he saw his parents together. The happiness they gave one another was out of this world and it gave Jack hope. Again, not something he'd ever say out loud, but it did.

Jack shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. "Well regardless, just because you got lucky doesn't mean I will too. Isabelle and I are nothing alike. She's not even interesting."

"How would you know?" Hector commented dryly. "You've barely spoken to her. Besides, you automatically assume that you're interesting."

Jack blinked at the obvious insult even though the half grin on his father's face proved he was joking. "Oh I _know_ I'm interesting," he pointed to himself as he distributed bowls to each seat at the table followed by spoons. "She follows me around whenever she has the chance. Would she do that if she thought I was _boring?_ " he countered.

"Maybe she's just mistaken," Hector replied airily, easy grin still intact. "How is she to know? You won't even spare her any attention. By doing so you could prove her wrong," Jack made a face the second his father turned away and Grace cackled gleefully again. "The way I see it, if she already claims to find you interesting enough to warrant her pursuit then you already have half the problem solved. Maybe if you got to know her, you'd come to find that she's a delightful young woman who's perfectly capable of mothering your children."

"Hardly," Jack droned before the second half of the last statement caught up with his brain. His nose curled. "Can we not talk about this over dinner? I'd like to _keep_ my appetite if it's all the same to you," he finished setting the table and made to sit down a second time but was once again stopped by his mother. He flashed her an impatient look and she motioned sternly towards the basin for him to wash his hands. He threw his arms in the air and once again did as requested as she began filling each bowl with steaming vegetable stew. "Am I just supposed to assume that you'd get nothing out of this 'engagement'?" Jack asked over his shoulder.

Hector sighed wearily, mischievous grin dropping from his lips.

"I'm not blind despite whatever you may think," Jack stated firmly as he made his way back to the table. He made to grab the back of the chair but thought better of it and cast his mother an expectant look. She gestured theatrically for him to sit and he did so with very little elegance, depositing himself bodily onto the wooden chair with a groan. "I know her father's one of the wealthiest bankers in town. I know how this stuff works. Whatever inheritance she has will partially go to me and, in return, _you_."

Hector rubbed a tired hand down his face. "I won't lie to you, Jack. The fact that they have money is good incentive. We're not doing so well right now and having the extra money would sure help out."

Jack frowned. "But I'm working now. Isn't that good enough?"

"You're just a kid, Jack," Hector replied carefully as if he was treading dangerous waters. Jack's slowly clenching jaw was proving it to be quite true. "Because of that you aren't paid nearly as much as a fully grown man would be."

"Why not?" Jack demanded. "I work just as hard as the men out there do. I can do everything they can do and more!"

"Don't misunderstand him, Jack," his mother intercepted, equally drained. "We appreciate everything you do for this family but sometimes when things get rough we need a little extra help to get back on our feet."

"And you think marrying me off to some rich girl will fix that?" Jack cried. "I thought I was 'just a kid'? Kids don't get married. _Kids_ don't work instead of go to school. I thought I was more than _just a kid_ to you," Jack said, feeling betrayed. He felt proud of himself. He felt proud that he had a full time job like the rest of the adults in town did. He felt like he was making something of himself. He thought he was helping. Clearly not.

"I'm not going to argue with you," Hector said with finality. Jack swallowed back a scoff. "We'll have this conversation another time. But I'd like for you to think about what we discussed today because it isn't over."

"How can you expect me to just get married and have kids right now?" Jack asked. He technically didn't even need to ask because it was quite common for people his age to marry. Even if the marriage was arranged by family. But he wanted to know what his father would say. "I'm still a kid myself, as you so kindly reminded me," he added with a hint of attitude. "I wouldn't even know how to take care of a kid. Isabelle probably wouldn't either. I'm not even good with kids."

"I think you underestimate yourself," his mother said after a generous sip of soup.

"You do just fine with Grace," Hector agreed.

Jack shrugged. "She's my sister. That's different. I wouldn't even know what to say or how to act."

"It's instinct," said his mother. "It just comes as second nature. I don't even think you realize how easily the children in this town gravitate towards you. Especially when you act silly and goof off during the stories the Turner family puts on over the fire every month."

Jack struggled for a response. "I'm not even doing it on purpose. It's not my job to entertain them."

"No but you do it anyway," Hector opposed. "Face it, you're a natural with children and I can assure you you'll be the same way with your own child one day."

Jack cringed. "It won't be with Isabelle. You're barking up the wrong tree."

Hector just laughed. "We'll see. I'll make a man of you yet."

* * *

 **Present Day**

The Queen's chamber walls were similar but relatively smaller to those in the main hall with delicately carved wood in light reds and browns. They appeared perfectly flat to the touch, not a splinter in place, and Alice felt the sudden urge to run her fingers over them to test if they were as smooth as they looked.

Instead, she clenched her fists at her sides and allowed her eyes to glide over the rest of the room in open curiosity.

Intricate carvings of looped golden markings decorated the trim along the top of the walls and down at the baseboards. There was some sort of medallion placed in the center of the ceiling, a crème-colored oval accent piece with light emitting from its center. For a moment Alice foolishly wondered how the light from a bulb managed to pierce through the medallion but then she remembered where they were. The Fae's light came from a source of magic, probably some sort of concentrated otherworldly energy that clearly surpassed human technology.

Aside from the two Fae guards that stood before the chamber doors, there were two others in the room with them. They were similar in stature as the previous faeries, stout and tall with bronze chest plates covering their torsos and long robes hanging from their shoulders. Their hair was pinned beneath their wooden headpieces and their lavender eyes followed the Guardians and Alice closely as they cautiously entered the room.

Alice couldn't help but feel caged in once the heavy doors closed behind them. Though North said these were light faeries, she couldn't help but feel wary in their presence. Maybe it was because of what Bunny warned her about. Remembering his words, she avoided eye contact with the Fae Guard and instead focused on the figure resting at the head of a round marble table in the center of the room like it was prepared for an audience.

The first thing Alice noticed was that the Queen Regent's eyes were not lavender. Instead, they were a glowing shade of teal blue. The blue covered the entirety of both eyes, no pupil in sight, which was as maddeningly unnerving as it was before. Aside from that, she was quite beautiful. She was dressed in a pale pink gown with a sharp golden piece resting over her shoulders. From its design Alice could tell that it was clearly meant for show to prove where she stood in the line of succession. A gleaming yellow ringlet rested on top of her long, wavy red hair and the simplicity surprised Alice but she reasoned that it was still probably made of real gold.

Her cheekbones were prominent, skin a soft shade of light purple that nearly blended in with her gown. The color of her skin darkened to a deep purple along the base of her cheeks and at the tip of her hairline. She looked unearthly.

With a dainty hand, the Queen Regent gestured towards the empty chairs that sat evenly around the table.

"Please sit," she offered. Her voice was melodic and calm, a sound that would have normally soothed Alice but instead only managed to make her feel even more on edge.

Their party chose their seats carefully on the far side of the table. North and Bunny took the seats closest to the Queen Regent on opposites sides, a fact Bunny did not seem pleased with. Alice found herself sitting across from the powerful Fae and silently wished she was in Bunny's position instead because the Queen Regent's eyes inevitably flashed in her direction more often than the others as she was in her direct line of sight.

Alice shifted in her chair, ready to get their meeting over with. If the Queen Regent noticed her squirming, she didn't comment on it.

North cleared his throat once they were all sorted, placing his enormous forearms on the table and weaving his fingers together. When he didn't immediately say anything, the Queen Regent gave a meticulous smile.

"I understand you wished to speak with me," she said pressingly.

"Yeah—er— _yes_ ," North fumbled. Though he seemed much less anxious than Bunny, it was clear his close proximity to the Fae made him nervous. Alice kept her gaze trained on his fluttering white moustache as he spoke. "I suppose it would be best if I got right to it," he said. "We formed an alliance many years ago, if you remember. Man in Moon made it so, created pact between us and Unseelie Court, among others. I speak on behalf of that alliance now," he said cleanly. "We need your help."

Alice's eyes flickered briefly to the Queen Regent whose ethereal face gave nothing away. "Go on."

Feeling reassured that she hadn't immediately dismissed him, North obliged with a bit more confidence. "A boy has been taken. We are fairly certain we know who took him but we aren't able to locate him on our own. We have brought boy's mother along with us," Alice shrunk beneath North's beefy hand that motioned towards her. She felt the Queen Regent's eyes on her but didn't meet them. "She wishes to be involved with boy's recovery but as issue has played out," he chose his words carefully, "we are not sure if girl is in danger as well. There are five of us who are capable of watching out for her but as we are mostly blind in situation, we were hoping you could aid us in protection of her and tracking her missing son."

The Queen Regent fiddled with the hair resting near her collarbone. Her eyes remained insistently in North's direction but for all Alice knew she could have been staring at the wall behind him.

"Need I remind you that we have no interest in the Guardians' affairs," said the Queen Regent with a significant look as if a similar conversation had already taken place. "We've gone our separate ways for centuries and have remained in peace as such. Unlike you, it's not our job to keep watch over the human world and all the—" her eyes momentarily flickered towards Alice, "—feeble-minded inside of it. If the Queen were here, you know she would agree with me."

Alice felt like maybe she should be insulted but the feeling of Jack's arm brushing against hers in comfort soiled those thoughts. She held back and refrained from showing any emotion on her face as North spoke.

"Knowing that we have you on our side would be most appreciated," said North, speaking cautiously again. "This situation could be bigger than we expected. If it comes down to battle—"

"Are you expecting it to?" the Queen Regent interrupted him, tone superior. "Are you expecting there to be a war? Like there was with, say, Pitch Black for instance?" North was noticeably startled at her knowledge of that and she smiled without humor again. "We know all about his tricks with dark magic. You really should keep him on a leash, you know. If you have no control over your own kin, how do you expect to have any over anyone else?"

North looked like he'd been slapped and Alice felt the insult burning in her gut. She risked a glance at Bunny who sat stiff as a board in his chair next to Jack attempting to reign in his temper. Jack was giving the Fae a dirty look and Alice wondered if that comment affected him differently than it did the others. She knew North looked after him. He was still a newly recruited Guardian and Alice was no stranger to the odd jabs and berates North tossed his way for disobeying the rules.

North wet his lips. "We didn't know he was going to—"

She intercepted him again. "Of course nobody _knows_ when someone's going to step out of line," she said with an underlying hint of mockery. "But if you're kept under a watchful eye then you're less likely to do something stupid. Maybe if you'd been paying closer attention, you could have stopped Black's terrorizing before it even began."

Alice wanted to comfort North who looked properly guilty as if he were to blame for Pitch going rogue. She had a feeling North was already harboring feelings of self-loathing and regret towards Pitch for a while now and the Queen Regent's remarks only pulled those thoughts to the forefront. Alice swallowed back a glare she desperately wished to throw in the Queen Regent's direction at the open disrespect.

"And maybe then the child wouldn't have been taken in the first place," the Queen Regent added as an afterthought.

Bunny bristled, ears falling back against his head.

" _Now wait just a minute_ ," he snapped, only to be immediately silenced by North's hand.

Alice felt Jack tense beside her and she had no doubt that if it came down to it, Bunny would have no qualms with starting a fight. She felt anger building at the obvious accusations the Queen Regent was throwing at North but North seemed to have suppressed his remorse for the time being and regained his composure.

"It's fine, Bunny," North said, sounding weary but no less determined. His sparkling blue eyes met the glowing teal of the Queen Regent's. "Maybe you are right. Maybe if I had been keeping tabs on Pitch, I could have saved us lots of heartache. But what's done is done. I cannot change the past, I can only move forward. Pitch Black is… least of our concerns for now," Alice didn't miss his hesitation and neither did the Fae. "We must focus on child."

The Queen Regent observed him for a moment and if Alice were in his place she would have writhed under the scrutiny. "You know, I find it odd," she said in a blasé sort of way. "You have asked me for two things thus far and have yet to offer anything in return, especially when you speak of matters that are none of our concern. It's interesting," she remarked airily in a falsely casual sort of way that said she didn't find it interesting at all.

Bunny muttered something under his breath that made the Fae Guard behind him twitch but the Queen Regent paid him no mind.

North schooled his features. "Oh but I can assure you they are," he said seriously.

The Queen Regent lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "And how do you figure that?"

"Because I believe an Unseelie faerie was one who aided in capture of the boy."

There was silence.

Bunny's head snapped towards North at a comical speed, clearly surprised, and Tooth apparently hadn't seen that one coming either for she gave North a questioning look. Sandy rarely expressed any sort of emotion other than happiness and when Alice glimpsed at him, his glittering face was devoid of anything except for the flickering of his beady eyes towards the Queen Regent.

Alice wondered what this meant. Did this mean they had some sort of advantage over the Seelie Court? Was North telling the truth or just using it as an excuse to pull the Court on their side? Alice felt sick to her stomach at the thought of Max being anywhere near an Unseelie faerie. She gathered well enough that they were dangerous and not at all pleasant or kind. What would they do to an young, innocent boy like Max if they got their hands on him? Her fingers clenched on the arms of the chairs and her expression fell stony.

"Unseelie faeries have knack for experimenting with dark magic. They are one of the few creatures who can tamper with it at a molecular level and bend it to their will. Some of them can even waive a powerful protection spell," North explained casually, ever the epitome of innocence, and it was then that it clicked in Alice's brain. His sack. He thought an Unseelie faerie was the one who slipped the _Brothers Grimm_ into his gift sack. "Creature who took boy goes by Tom. Or you may better know him by his common name, Rumpelstiltskin."

Alice shamelessly ogled the Queen Regent at this, searching for any traces of recognition in her face. As usual her expression gave nothing away but her eyes glinted in subtle familiarity of the name. That was all the verification Alice needed that Tom and Rumpelstiltskin were indeed the same person.

"You know who he is," Alice spoke up for the first time, voice cracking from lack of use. "Don't you?"

The Queen Regent barely spared her a cursory glance. Jack inched closer to Alice in his chair as if expecting the Fae to lash out at Alice's nosiness but none of the sort came. Her gaze held true to North's knowing face instead.

She finally asked, "What does this have to do with me?"

North seemed all too pleased to tell. "You made a pact long ago stating that Courts would not harm a human being."

The Queen Regent's jaw clenched but nevertheless she waved his statement off with a flick of her wrist. "What makes you think I would honor such a pact? Those who wrote it no longer exist."

"The pact still holds true," North said, eyebrows raised and daring her to protest. "It is against laws of your kin not to abide by it. Does not matter how long ago it was. Tsar Lunar was there to bear witness when you signed it. Manny would know if you went against his word," the Queen Regent's cheek twitched but she didn't necessarily seem angry.

Alice still felt wary nonetheless, waiting for the inevitable levee to break, and Jack placed his hand on top of hers that was still clenched.

"If an Unseelie faerie has taken or harmed a human being it becomes your concern," North continued. "And as boy is her son," Alice winced at being indirectly mentioned again, "she carries right just as much as he does to your protection. _And_ ," North added wryly, "your valiant efforts to return boy to his family safe and sound."

The Queen Regent did not appreciate his sarcasm. "If we're speaking in regards to that pact, hasn't your nightmare friend already broken it? He used his own dark magic on human children multiple times. How is that no different?"

The question seemed to stump North only for a second. "None of children were physically harmed," he reluctantly defended Pitch. "Technically he did nothing wrong in accordance to pact. His moral compass is not exactly pointing north but that is beside point."

"If we use Black's terms then, how do you know that this child has come to any harm?" the Queen Regent challenged.

"How do you know he has not?" North fired back without pause. "We knew those children were not harmed. We do not know that this one isn't," he cast Alice an apologetic look whose stomach had knotted at his words. "Pitch never even kidnapped one of them. Technically speaking he did nothing wrong."

It left a sour taste in Alice's mouth as North continued to defend the Nightmare King even though she knew why he did it. If it turns out that he had something to do with Max's capture, she did not want to be the one who justified any of his previous actions or wrongdoings.

The Queen Regent leaned back in her tall chair, appearing deep in thought. "How do you know for sure that an Unseelie was behind the capture?"

"I don't," North admitted. "But there is little magic out there that can counter my spells and an Unseelie's dark magic is one of them."

Alice held her breath as the Fae mulled over North's words. She felt eyes on her and she turned to face Jack who was watching her closely. Once their eyes met he offered her a quick smile. It was tight and not at all like the usual smiles he gave her. It was obvious the situation made both of them feel uncomfortable. He squeezed her hand in a vain attempt to reassure her and the corners of her lips twitched upward. He didn't succeed in making her feel any less tense but she appreciated the effort.

"If what you say is true," the Queen Regent's melodic voice interrupted their silent conversation and they turned back towards her. "Then the Unseelie Court must be alerted to a suspected treachery amongst their Faes," Alice breathed a sigh of cautious relief. For now it seemed the Queen Regent was on their side. "I must warn you that they may not be willing to cooperate."

"We'll take our chances," said North who was equally relieved.

"I'll send some of the Seelie Guard to the Unseelie Court to make them aware of the situation," she said and even though she was still facing North, it was obvious her words were directed towards the Fae standing behind her whose spines straightened. "With any luck they will be agreeable. Perhaps it would be wise if a member of your Guardianship accompanied the Seelie Guard to ensure the correct information is relayed," the Queen Regent suggested and North pursed his lips, seemingly displeased but not enough to protest.

Alice narrowed her eyes at the Queen Regent's tone. Despite being filled with noticeably less animosity than before, she could still detect stiffness in the powerful Fae's voice.

"I'll go with them," North said and Bunny fidgeted in his seat next to Jack before rolling his eyes like he was exasperated with his own train of thought.

"Can't have you going alone, mate," he said with a pained wince, regretting the words as they fell from his tongue. It was obvious the Fae put him on edge the most. Alice wondered if there was a reason for that or if he simply disliked everyone outside the Guardians equally. "I'll tag along."

North nodded reluctantly, unable to deny that a back-up may be necessary, and the Queen Regent stood from her chair. North quickly followed suit and one after the other the rest of them pushed back from the table and congregated near the doors. Jack made sure to place himself between Alice and the Fae Guards that stood in formation waiting for instructions. Alice gave him a tense smile in gratitude, unwilling to be any closer to the faeries than she needed to, and Jack gave her a cautious look in return as if to say, ' _don't thank me yet_.'

The Queen Regent glided elegantly around the table and approached them, nodding towards the Fae Guard who bowed and pushed open the doors.

"We have a passageway that leads to the Unseelie Court's dwelling," she explained as they marched down the rounded corridor they came from. "Technically they're located quite far from here but the passage is enchanted. What would take days of travel has been turned into seconds. It's much easier for us whenever there's an urgent need to meet unexpectedly."

They turned down another winding hallway and Alice clasped her hands together nervously as they descended a staircase leading into another level of the Court. A few Fae Guards were scattered about the corridors dressed in their gold and bronze armor. The Queen Regent gave a few of them significant looks and wordlessly they followed alongside her. Alice momentarily wondered if they could communicate telepathically.

North glanced at Alice over his shoulder where he walked in front of her. "I don't think it best that Alice be exposed to the Unseelie Court. She should remain here with Jack, Tooth and Sandy until we return."

The Queen Regent spared him an amused glance.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't," she replied lightly but it made the hairs on the back of Alice's neck stand on end all the same.

Part of her felt the urge to interject. She wanted to participate as much as she could in finding Max and if that meant traveling to the Unseelie Court then so be it. If she could she'd confront the faerie herself and give it a piece of her mind, North's warnings be damned. But at the same time she knew not to overcompensate her worth. There wasn't much she could do in way of aiding in the capture of a rogue dark faerie. She was essentially powerless.

She was reminded of the speech Jack gave her the day she arrived at the Pole. He told her she'd be nothing in a fight and would only serve to get in everyone else's way. Unnecessary baggage to look after that would just slow them down. She remembered feeling hurt at being told that she was utterly useless to them but after she had time alone to calm down and clear her head, she realized he was right. She knew better than to try biting off more than she could chew.

The last thing she needed to do was leave Max motherless once again because she went and got herself killed.

She still couldn't help but feel personally responsible for the situation they put themselves in though. She hated that the Guardians were doing all the work for her, even if it was something anyone even remotely human like herself couldn't hope to accomplish on their own. They were willingly putting their lives at risk to save Max. Wasn't that her job?

Alice was jolted out of her reverie when the Queen Regent paused at a crossroads between several different corridors, all of which looked the same. Alice felt a bit dizzy as she gazed down each one, an issue everyone seemed to be having.

"It's just this way," the Queen Regent announced and they turned down the left corridor that almost immediately led to another flight of stairs.

"For being used as a shortcut in case of an 'urgent need to meet unexpectedly' it's pretty far away from the main hall," Bunny noted, sounding annoyed as they reached the base of the stairs.

The look the Queen Regent gave him was unreadable but Bunny appeared properly scorned all the same. His ears twitched in response, nearly folding back against his furry head but he stopped them before they could. Alice saw Tooth place a tiny hand on his arm to calm him.

"It's just through there," the Queen Regent gestured towards the end of the hallway that seemed to go on for miles with no apparent end. After extending about half the length of the previous corridors it eventually faded into blackness.

Alice felt the electricity on her arms buzzing in the air. It was the same feeling she got whenever one of North's portals opened nearby and she figured there was some sort of portal waiting at the end of the hallway to transport them to the Unseelie Court.

"As you're aware, their dwelling is much farther underground than ours. They have little use for light so at times it can be rather difficult to see. The Guards will guide you and keep you safe should the need arise," explained the Queen Regent.

North sucked in a deep breath, sparing the dark corridor a guarded look before adjusting his wool coat and turning to face Bunny. A look passed between the two Guardians, one that Alice couldn't exactly read but assumed it had something to do with whatever they were about to face, before North's eyes met Alice's. Alice was fidgeting with her fingers and even though North's gaze typically eased her mind, this one only succeeded in making her feel more on edge.

"Alice," said North with a fond smile. He stepped forward and patted the side of her head, his hand nearly engulfing her face.

"You don't have to do this," the words tumbled out of Alice's mouth in a hushed whisper before she even knew they were coming. "It's okay, I understand. We can find another way. I don't want to put you in any danger. That's _never_ been my intention. I don't want—"

"Alice, Alice," North steadied her rambling by placing his bejeweled hands on her shoulders. " _Relax_. We can handle this. You forget how old we are," he gave her a wise smirk. "This is not first time we've put ourselves at risk and it certainly won't be the last."

"That's exactly the problem," Alice frowned deeply. "I don't want you putting yourself at risk for me. For Max. You're his heroes," Alice gave a watery smile, her eyes rolling over each magical figure that stood before her before somberly shaking her head. "He wouldn't want this."

"They exaggerate how dangerous the Unseelie really are," North leaned forward to murmur conspiratorially as if it prevented the Fae nearby from hearing him. "They are no match for Bunny and me. Have a little faith in us," North winked and Alice cracked a tiny smile. "Besides, Max is more than just your son. He is our believer. We protect our believers. It is our job to get him back. Let us do our jobs?"

Alice swallowed thickly and with her heart hammering painfully in her chest, she nodded in spite of herself. There was something heavy coiling in the pit of her stomach like ominous foreshadowing. She had a bad feeling but she knew she couldn't stop the Guardians from doing anything no matter how hard she tried. And she _really_ wanted her son back.

"Okay," she whispered.

North gave her another tender look before casting his eyes at Jack. "Watch out for her," he advised.

"Always do," said Jack simply.

A silent conversation passed between North, Tooth and Sandy before he nodded at the four of them and gave a jovial smile. "We'll be back in a flash."

With a single nod from Bunny who looked much less resolute than North did, the two of them turned their backs and exchanged brief glances with the Queen Regent. Neither said anything and with that, the two Guardians followed the Fae Guard as they marched purposefully down the hall.

Alice watched them go with the shuddering fear that she'd never see them again. Even reminding herself that the Guardians had some sort of alliance with the Fae (or at least used to) and North himself seemed to trust them enough to bring her there didn't quell her anxiety. Maybe it was because she knew next to nothing about the Unseelie Court. Not that she could say with absolute certainty that she knew anything remotely noteworthy about the Seelie Court, but at least she'd been around them long enough to see that they had no intentions of hurting the Guardians. She couldn't deny that they seemed wary, or at least strikingly curious, about her but that was the least of her concerns. For the moment she was only worried about North and Bunny and if the Seelie Guard would in fact protect them if the situation demanded it.

The Queen Regents' warning rang clear in her mind like a mantra that the Unseelie Court may not be as willing to cooperate. 'Willing' was a funny word considering it took quite a bit of convincing before the Queen Regent was on board. Alice wasn't even fully convinced that the Seelie Court was on their side, but at least for the moment they seemed to not be against them. Alice wasn't feeling too quick to push their luck despite all the red flags waving around behind her eyes that something could easily go wrong and they'd be none the wiser because they were on the wrong side of the portal. And even if the Seelie faeries were alerted to the danger North or Bunny might be in, there was no guarantee they'd tell them.

It was these nagging thoughts that caused Alice's eyes to flit cautiously towards the Queen Regent as North and Bunny's forms disappeared halfway down the corridor. Jack was fidgeting restlessly with his staff next to her, all his tension and anxiety noticeable in the crease of his eyebrows as he pursed his lips. Even Sandy who on the worst of days couldn't even produce a frown was giving the dark portal a hard look.

The Queen Regent eventually turned to face them.

"If you will just follow me…" she made to turn back the way they came but as four pairs of eyes flickered nervously between one another, unmoving, she paused and faced them. "Two Faes will stand guard over the portal to greet your Guardians when they return," she nodded towards two exceptionally tall faeries that were standing behind her and, heeding the silent order, they gracefully slid past her and took their posts a few feet away from the portal. She then eyed Alice and the Guardians to see if that arrangement satisfied them. "By all means stand there if you'd like but I have other more comfortable places to wait if you can pull yourselves away. It may take a while."

Without waiting for a response, the Queen Regent turned on her heels and glided down the hall. The only remaining Fae Guard followed closely behind her and Alice exchanged a look with Jack. He looked conflicted with a range of emotions darting across his face but Tooth seemed to make the decision for them as she slowly fluttered after them. Sandy trailed alongside her, hobbling a good six feet beneath the Tooth Fairy who floated off the ground, causing Alice and Jack to take up the rear of the group.

They followed quickly after the Queen Regent and her Fae Guard who glided elegantly through each corridor as if they didn't have to think about where they were headed. They circled back towards the main hall and took a hard right before they could enter. They were deposited into a side room with plush armchairs and a table full of fresh fruit and wine goblets. Alice eyed them warily.

"Make yourselves comfortable," said the Queen Regent. "Feel free to help yourselves to the refreshments if you feel any thirst or hunger," she turned towards the Fae Guard that had accompanied her. "Sidhion, if you'd be so kind."

She outstretched an arm and Sidhion bowed before stepping into the room and standing straight near the threshold in clean formation as if to hold watch over them. Alice leered dubiously at the drinks and food. Her mouth watered from the sight of the strawberries and diced kiwi but she didn't move forward to grab anything, heeding North's warning. Jack, Tooth and Sandy squinted suspiciously at the table and, noticing this, the Queen Regent flashed her teeth in a mirthful grin as if their actions – or lack thereof – greatly amused her.

"If you need anything or have any concerns, please see Sidhion," she continued. "Otherwise I have other engagements to attend."

With that she turned smoothly and exited the room, the door clicking shut behind her without being touched or pulled. Alice licked her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. She assumed the Fae Guard, _Sidhion_ , was supposed to make them feel comfortable but he did just the opposite. Tooth daintily eased onto the large ivory loveseat and Sandy floated next to her with the absence of anything else better to do.

After some hesitation Alice followed suit and sat in one of the armchairs. Jack, on the other hand, seemed too antsy to sit still and began pacing the room. There was a negative energy that radiated off of him in waves and Alice gave him a worried look, following his erratic pacing a few seconds behind as if she couldn't catch up.

Alice side-eyed the Fae Guard who seemed for all intents and purposes to be ignoring their very existences. Once Jack made his rounds back towards her she muttered, "I have a bad feeling."

She figured it'd be best to tell one of them. She couldn't bear keeping it bottled up inside her. The feeling was threatening to make her sick all over the Fae's intricate snack table and she assumed they'd be none too pleased with her if that happened.

"Yeah no kidding," Jack huffed. He leaned his staff against the arm of her chair and she tugged it towards her without thinking. Unlike when Jack grabbed it and his eyes lightening with recognition and strength, she felt nothing but rough wood under her fingertips. She gripped the staff close to her nonetheless, garnering some security from it even though in her grasp it was powerless. "How do we even know we can trust them?" Jack asked without thinking, though he did spare the Fae Guard a momentary glance whose eyes narrowed. Sidhion clearly heard him.

"North obviously does," Tooth said, inviting herself into the conversation. "If he does then so do I," she stated firmly, though there was a hint of doubt in her tone as if she didn't really believe that.

"Easy for you to say," retorted Jack, severely unimpressed. "You've met them all before. I don't even know them. How do we know we can trust them with Max? Or even finding him in the first place? What if the Unseelie Court doesn't want to help and we're back to square one?"

Tooth sighed tiredly. "Let's just take this one step at a time. You heard North: have faith. Him and Bunny are well equipped to handle it if the situation were to go… awry."

"Yeah," Jack sneered as if what she said reminded him of another concern. "What the hell's _that_ about, by the way? The Seelie Court obviously doesn't trust the Unseelie faeries in the first place. Aren't they connected somehow? Why not trust your own…people?" he waved his arm around as if he couldn't find the right word to describe them.

Alice eyed the Fae Guard out of the corner of her eye. She wondered if this conversation was bothersome to him at all. Tooth seemed to share the same concern as she spared a fleeting glance in the Fae's direction.

"They used to be one Court," Tooth explained. Jack stopped near Alice where she continued to hold his staff and he placed his hand on the top of the staff's hook. An energy coursed through the staff that nearly caused Alice to drop it in shock. Her arms felt like jelly and she glanced up at Jack in surprise. He didn't return the look but she had a feeling he awoke a pulse of magic in the staff to help distract her. "A few thousand years ago there was a disagreement amongst the Faes. Some faeries believed that dark magic was a necessity. They believed it was comprised of the purest magic, that it was almost a sin not to utilize it. The other faeries didn't agree; they could see risk in using such unyielding power and so the Court was split into two and they named themselves the Seelie and the Unseelie Court: the light and the dark," she said. "Over time the Unseelie faeries grew harsh. Their use of dark magic turned them dark themselves. Even though they evolved from the same Elders as the Seelie faeries, that is why their appearances are so different. That's what dark magic does. It blackens the soul."

Jack was frowning at Tooth as Alice let the fairy's words simmer. "That doesn't make any sense," he said. "What was the point of the pact North mentioned then? If they use dark magic, doesn't that go against their laws?"

"Not exactly," said Tooth slowly. "The pact was written to dissuade any magical beings from harming a human. That didn't mean they couldn't practice dark magic."

"Why even make the pact in the first place? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad humans aren't being harmed but what started that? Did they make it a hobby to hurt humans or something?"

"There were a few misunderstandings long ago," Tooth mentioned evasively. "There was an argument on whether or not it was just in harming innocent people."

Jack rolled his eyes. "As if it's a hard concept."

"Unseelie faeries see the world in a different way," Tooth attempted to explain with a sensitive smile. "They have different perspectives on right and wrong. A lot of creatures out there are like that. Even some humans are the same way," Tooth's eyes roamed over to Alice's form and she couldn't say she disagreed with the fairy. People were crazy. "Once it got out of control Tsar Lunar had to step in. He decided to write the pact and a representative from each race was there to sign it. Not only did Tsar Lunar create the pact but he was also there to bear witness when the pact went into place. It's punishable to go against it. Then again," Tooth tilted her head. "Since the pact only specifies humans to be unharmed, some creatures like to take advantage of that. Their excuse is always, 'The pact only said humans,' and legally they've done no wrong."

"I'm not surprised," said Alice. All creatures were alike in the sense that they needed to be spoon fed the rules, otherwise they'd find a loophole around them. It was sad.

"Neither am I," Tooth agreed with a tone of regret.

"Do they have a Queen?" Alice asked suddenly. "Like the Seelie Court does?"

"Yes," Tooth nodded. "That's who North and Bunny will be speaking to."

Alice felt like she was being eaten alive by the silence after that. It seemed as though there was more to say but the Fae Guard watching over the room ceased that from happening. Jack continued to pace, though not as aggressively as before, and Alice attempted to steer her mind away from whatever North and Bunny were facing at this very moment. She could only hope that they were making some sort of progress.

A solid ten minutes later and Alice found Jack taking a seat on the arm of the chair she was resting stiffly in. She bounced her knees to give herself something to do and Jack watched the action for a few minutes before branding her with a terse smile.

"Everything alright up there?" he asked, gesturing towards her head. He could probably sense the migraine forming behind her eyes.

Alice breathed. "I don't know. Probably not."

"It's probably a stupid question to ask," Jack shrugged a shoulder. "None of this is exactly getting any easier."

"I just…" Alice paused. "I hate waiting. I hate not knowing what's going on."

Jack inclined his head. "Can't disagree with you there."

"Sometimes I can't believe that any of this is happening," Alice shook her head. "It's like none of it's real. It doesn't make any _logical_ sense. Max and I shouldn't even be in this situation and yet here we are," Alice lifted her arms, Jack's staff tilting with them. "Sometimes I have to remind myself that all of this isn't my imagination. Meeting you, meeting the other Guardians, having Max taken by some fairy tale character and then sitting here in the Seelie Court. I just… sometimes reality gets a little warped."

Jack didn't say anything for a moment and Alice was too busy looking down at her hands to see what kind of emotions were fixed on his face.

"Jack…" Alice started carefully. She bit the inside of her cheek and lifted her eyes momentarily to gaze at the edge of the table in front of her before resorting to playing with her fingers again. She absently ran her hands along Jack's staff as she considered something. "If I were to tell you something, would you promise not to overreact?" she asked, her eyes sliding meagerly up to the winter spirit's. Jack's forehead was wrinkled.

"I guess that depends on what that something is," he answered.

Alice's mind flittered back to the dream she had. The one involving the faceless creature that spoke to her about everything around her not being real.

"What if I told you that I think Rumpelstiltskin – or Tom – came to me in a dream?" she asked.

Jack's eyes flashed dangerously. "What do you mean 'came to you in a dream'?" he asked, voice hard.

"Back at the Pole," Alice wetted her lips, attempting to block the intense glare Jack was boring into the side of her skull. "I think that he interfered with my dream somehow and told me that you—"

The grand door burst open in that moment, startling its inhabitants besides Sidhion who merely turned his head to face the intruder. Jack had his arm thrust in front of Alice defensively, crouched and ready for an attack, only to relax (partially) at the sight of the Queen Regent. Despite her dramatic entrance she looked neither out of breath nor in a hurry. However, there was something strange about the look on her face that set Alice on edge.

Alice quickly stood from the armchair as Tooth fluttered anxiously behind her. Jack grabbed her arm in caution, keeping himself slightly in front of her and making his distrust for the Fae apparent. The Queen Regent ignored this in favor of gazing at Alice with a faraway look in her gleaming teal eyes.

"Are they back?" Alice asked instantly. The tension in her stomach had increased tenfold at the weird expression on the Queen Regent's face.

"Not quite. Something better, though," the powerful Fae said. "It seems the Unseelie Court have located your son."

Alice's heart lodged itself in her throat and she choked out a strangled gasp.

* * *

 **A/N** : It got to the point where I needed to stop the chapter before it became too long again. I'm sorry if the ending seems rushed. I was getting mad that I couldn't reach a decent stopping point. Meh.

So I think I'm going to stop apologizing for the huge gaps between chapters because I'm starting to sound like a broken record. I'm just having some writer's block with this story that's driving me crazy. I've kept myself writing and posted some new stuff so I haven't lost the motivation to write (thank god) I'm just having a hard time filling in all the empty spots. I know what's going to happen and I know what I _want_ to happen because I have this entire story outlined, I just don't have all the details down which is making things difficult right now to connect the dots. So hopefully you guys aren't too disappointed with this chapter, especially with the wait on top of it.

How did you guys like reading some of Jack's backstory? I'm hoping to weave some more of it into the story as things progress because I had a lot of fun with it. Let me know what you think. And yay, Max has finally been found! About time, right? I know, I miss him too. Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows this story continues to get. I think when I posted the last chapter we were at 100 follows and now we're at 116. I hope you guys realize how much stuff like that motivates me. I've probably gone back and read all your reviews twice since chapter fifteen. It may not seem like much but your comments really do help me out. Whenever I'm in a funk I come back to them and they help me soldier through all the stupid writer's block. Love you guys. Stay tuned for more! I plan on seeing this story through to the end :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen**

* * *

It wasn't often that Nicholas St. North felt uncomfortable.

Very few things actually made him feel true discomfort. He'd been around long enough, experienced enough things and weathered enough battles, to render the emotion quite useless. But in his centuries of existing as an immortal Guardian, he could finally say with absolutely certainty that he utterly _disliked_ being in the Unseelie Court's presence.

Granted, this was the first time he'd ever seen them up close and made somewhat of a civilized conversation with them so it was bound to stir some unwanted tension. But the second he and Bunnymund crossed through the portal into the Unseelie's underground cavern, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end like there was an electric charge on the air. It reminded him of the feeling of being watched even though he couldn't find any eyes on him. It was disconcerting. But it was so dark down there that he wouldn't be surprised if he just couldn't see all the beady eyes staring back at him.

The darkness had been very disorienting at first. It took a good minute for his and Bunny's eyes to adjust and when they finally did he wished they hadn't. The Unseelie Court's dwelling seemed to consist mostly of an array of underground tunnels carved out of black rock. The walls of the tunnels were jagged and sharp with yellow-orange lights embedded into them. When North looked closer, it was like there was liquid flowing within them like slowly flowing lava. He made a 'hmph' sound in the back of his throat but didn't linger in fear of standing in one place for too long. But it was curious. He figured that maybe one day he'd want to learn more about their magic.

The ground was glimmering with moisture and North almost found himself slipping a few times as he walked, cautiously watching his boots to make sure he didn't step on any uneven ground. He couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at the layout of the place. It didn't seem efficient at all. And what angered him more was the fact that the Unseelie Guards didn't seem to have any trouble at all walking along the sharp ground.

Infuriatingly graceful faeries.

Despite the thickness of the air that could be sliced with North's swords, the Unseelie Guards were willing to cooperate more than he and Bunny expected. That wasn't to say their eyes didn't leer with distaste in the Guardians' general direction as they were led through the Unseelie's sanctuary with smoldering red torches that did very little to light their path, but still. At least they didn't try to kill them.

He often found the Unseelie and Seelie Guards exchanging heated glares above his and Bunny's heads. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth so he let them glare daggers at one another as much as they liked without comment. He had no intentions of voluntarily getting between two split races that had been at each other's throats for a few millennia and he'd rather them duke it out than get him involved anyway.

Another thing that truly surprised him was the fact that the Unseelie Court had a King _and_ Queen and their King did most of the talking. He was an intimidating Fae, tall and broad-shouldered with dark armor and a billowing black cloak. Its edges were burnt and torn leaving the cloak raggedly uneven and battered. North had a feeling it was that way by design. The armor was jagged and sharp like it'd been carved out of the molten rock the Court was surrounded with and North avoided coming any closer than a few feet of it lest it take his entire eyeball out.

The Unseelie's skin was a startlingly deep grey with glowing yellow eyes. Despite their sinister appearance, their faces were still very majestic and royal with thin, high cheekbones and defined jawlines. North figured the Unseelie King would get along quite nicely with his estranged brother Pitch considering they shared such a likeness for appearance. Though, North couldn't say that Pitch sent an uneasy quiver through his gut like the Unseelie King did.

The Queen they only met fleetingly. It was clear her affairs weren't with outsiders and she left about as quickly as she arrived. She was quite dainty and small but just as much a warrior as her counterpart with strong muscles and piercing eyes to match that Bunny noticeably avoided.

Once North formally explained why they were there, the King squinted in suspicion at the Seelie Guards standing close behind the Guardians as if the blame placed on one of his faeries was their fault. North and Bunny exchanged wary glances and of course were asked to explain in great detail why they suspected an Unseelie Fae committed treachery.

"You do realize that disobedience and going against the pact is punishable even by death," the King said, his voice the living embodiment of thunder and commandment. He spoke accusingly, as if he was taxed by the thought that North would knowingly put him through such a trial. As if the act of disciplining his faeries was exhausting and unworthy of his time. North had to cut his eyes at Bunny before the Pooka made a snippy comment that'd probably be something along the lines of, 'You're savages, isn't punishing the disloyal a weekend hobby of yours?'

"I understand this may be… inconvenient for you," North said cautiously when Bunny simply pursed his furry lips. "But there is a little boy whose life is at stake. If you could just take minute of your time to search for any signs of a rogue faerie…"

North could have mentioned that it was a requirement of him to do so if a human's life was in any sort of suspected danger but he figured those wouldn't have been a wise choice of words. Any words that sounded like a direct order were ones North adamantly avoided.

The King seemed annoyed but allowed them to follow him through another dark passageway that led into a separate room guarded by Unseelie Faes. He seemed more bothered by the fact that he actually had to put forth effort into looking rather than bothered with the Guardians themselves. Another small victory North wouldn't be taking for granted.

The Unseelie King performed some sort of wordless incantation above a seemingly faceless stone that was chiseled flat and smooth in the form of a table. Once the incantation was complete, hundreds of glittering red lights twinkled on the stone amidst glowing white borders. North squinted down at it, realizing with surprise that it was a map. Each light must've belonged to an Unseelie faerie. It was extraordinary. He could only presume that the Seelie Court had a similar map of their own.

"Any Fae that has performed disobedience will emit a certain glow different than that of the others," said the King, the reflection of the map casting an eerie luminescence amongst his shadowed face.

His eyes held a light of disinterest as if the events currently taking place were boring him. When North realized he wasn't even attempting to look, the jolly man leaned in further with Bunny at his side to examine the map. There were so many sparkling dots (all of which were moving in unison with the faerie they belonged to) that it was almost impossible to follow them all.

"How often is this map checked?" North asked without thinking. There was silence that seemed to echo hauntingly in the room. With a heavy swallow he glimpsed nervously up at the King who had his yellow eyes narrowed and trained on North. North's trademark rosy cheeks paled. "I—I mean…"

"We are quite persuasive, Mr. North, I assure you," the Unseelie King gave a cold, ruthless smirk that North was nodding along to with a lump in his throat. "Our Faes have great incentive to keep themselves in line."

"Yes, _yes_ of course, how silly of me to imply—"

"North," Bunny interrupted.

"Yes?" North squeaked, white beard flailing as he quickly turned to face his furry companion.

"Look at this," said Bunny, motioning his paw towards the top of the map.

North adjusted his rounded glasses and peered down at it whilst subtly wiping his sweaty palms on his wool coat. It didn't seem uncommon to have a few Faes out and about outside the Unseelie Court since there were a few scattered around but there was one in particular that stood out. Rather than glowing a deep ruby, its light was emitting a pale orange. There was a smaller, misshapen dot next to it that was also orange but slightly pink in hue that was fading in and out of sight. North's eyebrows rose. Jackpot.

North nodded towards the map as he gazed steadily at the King. "If you would take a look."

North couldn't deny the satisfaction he felt as he watched the dawning comprehension harden the King's face once he spotted the orange dot. That satisfaction wasn't long-lived though for it was quickly replaced with anxiety at the murderous look that soon marred the powerful faerie's face.

" _Fool_ ," the King hissed, his voice wispy and hollow, almost ghostly. North took a subtle step to the left, his side pressing against Bunny to give the enraged Fae room to breathe. The King's beady yellow eyes glowed brighter as if his body couldn't contain the fury within it.

North leaned back towards one of the Seelie Guards.

"Tell the others," he ordered quietly out of the corner of his mouth.

He didn't really expect the Seelie faerie to obey but it quickly bowed and left the way they came, leaving the other two Seelie Guards with the Guardians.

The Unseelie King glowered at the map with his long arms pressed on each either side of the stone table to hold himself up. His wide shoulders were hunched, the sharp blades of his shoulder braces pointing dangerously in North's direction. His breath ran ragged and North exchanged another look with Bunny, only to hear the King's breath stutter in his throat.

"What's this?" the King asked, stunned.

"Er…" North fumbled.

"That's a human," the King uttered, voice dripping with disgust. "That's… a _human_."

"Where?" Bunny demanded impatiently.

The King pointed a bony grey finger at the orange-pink dot that rested next to the faerie's. Every few seconds its light would dim like it was trying to not be there.

"There."

"You can see humans?" Bunny exclaimed, anger noticeable in his words.

" _No_ ," the King was outraged.

"Then what do you mean? Why can you see one?" Bunny was on the verge of yelling and North raised a hand to calm the warrior bunny.

"I don't know, it…" the King paused, breathing heavily again. North could see the conflicting emotions flashing across his face as he tried to come up with some sort of explanation. When the dot's light dimmed again, the King's eyebrows rose and his face was stony. "Magic… the traitor used its _magic_ on the human. That's why we can see it."

"How?" Bunny asked again. "How does that make you see it?"

"Think of our magic as a fingerprint," the King explained irritably like they should have already known this. "It always leaves traces of itself behind. And this faerie's fingerprints are _all_ over that human."

"What kind of magic is it? Do you know?" asked Bunny. "Is he hurt?"

The King squinted, obviously seeing something they couldn't. "It's a cloaking device."

It made sense, North realized, as he watched the little light attempt to flicker in and out of focus. As if it was trying to disappear but the magic itself was what was keeping it visible on their map. Bunny cast a significant look at North. That's why Max wasn't showing up on the Globe. It _was_ a cloaking spell, just like they guessed days ago. But why would the Fae cast it?

"Why would Rumpelstiltskin need Unseelie faerie to cast cloaking spell? He would have been able to do it himself," North stated skeptically, directing his question at Bunny as the King didn't seem to be listening.

"Idiot," Bunny laughed, uncaring that he was essentially dirty-talking the very species they were holed up miles underground with. "He's led us right to him."

"That's what worries me," said North ominously. "This has been too easy."

"Easy?" Bunny coughed out a humorless laugh. "You're barkin'."

"Easy enough," North amended, staring off past Bunny's tall ears as he went over the incident from square one in his head. First the book, scaring Max, then taking Max, Jack coming to the Pole with Alice, Max ending up hidden from the Globe, Jack learning about Tom through Pitch, Alice finding Rumpelstiltskin's story, joining forces with the Seelie Court, Unseelie King finding Max on his map even though he shouldn't have… North's eyes brightened. "Everything has been so much easier than it should have been," he sounded alarmed. "He knew… from book to my Globe, my sack, to Fae… he _knew_."

"Knew _what?_ " Bunny asked, exasperated.

"Everything," North waved his arms about in a flailing of limbs. "He knew every step we were going to take. It was like game of chess to him. He predicted every move," he exclaimed. "Smart thing would be to _not_ follow through with finding Unseelie and Max while we are ahead. He is expecting us to play into palm of his hands!"

"Not bloody likely," Bunny scoffed. "We're seein' this through to the end! Max is an innocent. Who cares if it's a trap?"

North deflated. "I expect he knows that too. That we will not care what happens because we want boy back."

"Right," Bunny nodded slowly. "So let's get this show on the road."

"Something still does not add up though," North vehemently shook his head. "Why trap us in first place? Who is trap for? If we bring Alice she could be in even more danger. Remember what Jack said?" Bunny's lips thinned. "All this could be for her."

"She can't stay at the Seelie Court," Bunny denied immediately. "You trust them if Sandy, Tooth and Jack are there with her but we need them. She can't stay there alone. You got any other ideas? Maybe Pitch can babysit her," Bunny suggested sarcastically before tilting his head. "Besides, what would he want with her anyway? What makes her so special? She's just a girl."

"I don't know," North was uncomfortable with all the unknown variables. He didn't like not knowing things. He was afraid of running into a situation blindly with no preparation or any idea of what they were up against. Who knew how any of them would end up? But it seemed like they weren't given much of a choice. Rumpelstiltskin played them well. North meekly added as a last resort: "He has hidden motives."

Bunny rolled his eyes. "They almost always do. It's always going to be that way. That's why we're here – to kick their ass until they tell us what those motives are," he smirked encouragingly.

North opened his mouth to say something else but the Unseelie King interrupted him by commanding a few Unseelie Guards forward once he finished brooding at the map.

"Do you know where they are?" Bunny asked after the King spoke quietly with his Guards. "He's close enough to be on your map so that's a good thing, right?"

"He's in the Northern Woods," the King told them, voice wavering from residual anger. "Fairly close to here. There's a mountain due west," he pointed towards the upper left side of the glowing map in the same area the orange and pink dots continued to shine and flicker. "My guess is he is somewhere inside or possibly underneath it. I wasn't aware of any passageways into the mountain. Last I heard they had been closed from cave-ins long ago. He must have found a way in."

Bunny chanced a glance at North and shrugged. "Good enough for me."

"But at what cost?" North murmured cynically to himself.

The Unseelie King glared at his Fae Guard.

"Find him," he hissed, referring to the traitor. "And bring him to me."

The Unseelie Guard bowed and began to glide out of the room. North and Bunny seized the opportunity as their dismissal and quickly jogged after them. The Unseelie Guards didn't seem surprised to hear them following, though they did narrow their eyes at the Seelie Guard that kept up the rear of the group.

Turning down a particularly uneven passageway that North had a hard time keeping his balance on, he watched as the Unseelie Guards began to turn the opposite way they had come. He knew where the portal was that would transport them back to the Seelie Court and it was certainly _not_ that way.

"Wait!" North called. The Unseelie Guards paused and four pairs of unblinking yellow glowing eyes were about all he could see of them at the end of the passage. He swallowed down his uneasiness. "We have friends to pick up first. We must return to Seelie Court to fetch them."

* * *

Alice's heart was pounding in her throat.

"They found him?" she asked, eyes wide.

She was elated, weightless, like she could just float up into the clouds. They found Max. She wanted to cry or maybe laugh, she couldn't tell which. There was a tickling in her chest and she realized it was happiness but also a little anxiety too at the thought of seeing him again. She didn't let the relief take over just yet though. She knew better than to get her hopes up in case this was some sort of trap set by Rumpelstiltskin.

"They know where he is," the Queen Regent corrected. "He is here, in the Northern Woods. They wouldn't have been able to track him if he weren't."

Alice lifted her hands to her mouth to hide her smile. This was the first lead they had in regards to Max's location since he was taken. It was a good start. A really good start. She felt a cold hand grip her shoulder tightly and she quickly spun to face Jack who was giving her a large smile. He gave her shoulder a squeeze in reassurance and she lowered her hands a bit, shakily returning the smile. She then turned back to the Queen Regent as Tooth and Jack exchanged promising looks.

"How were they able to track him?" Alice asked.

Something odd flashed across the Queen Regent's face. It appeared and disappeared too quickly for Alice to interpret the emotion but nevertheless she knew it'd been there and it immediately set her on edge again.

"Your son is in close proximity to the rogue Unseelie faerie. That's why he appeared on their map," said the Queen Regent and Alice was unsettled to realize that the Fae was hiding something from her. Alice narrowed her eyes but no one else seemed to share her concern for Tooth quickly stepped forward.

"So North was right," she said. "An Unseelie did disobey to help Rumpelstiltskin."

"So it would seem."

Tooth's tiny eyebrows furrowed at this but she didn't say anything. Alice tried to shake off her suspicions of the Queen Regent in favor of psyching herself up for Max's rescue. He was the most important thing right now. Everything else could wait.

"I'm sure your Guardians will be returning shortly," the Queen Regent spoke up. All heads turned to her. "If you'll follow me, we can meet them at the portal."

The four of them were quick to trail the powerful Fae and her Guards out the door and back through the winding corridors to the portal's entrance. Jack walked quickly beside Alice and gave her another silent grin, this one smaller but encompassing much more meaning. He slipped his pale hand into hers, entwining their fingers. Ivory skin laced with tan and Alice's gaze lingered on their interlocked grip before she returned his stare. His blue eyes sparkled and that said it all. _I'm here_. Her lips twitched. She walked a bit closer to where their shoulders were touching and she felt empowered but also vulnerable at the same time. It was a strange feeling but not an unwelcome one.

They reached the portal's passageway in due time, unsurprised but also a bit deflated to only see the Fae Guards standing watch as commanded. The Queen Regent settled back with the Guards who accompanied her and exchanged harsh small talk, speaking too quietly for any of the Guardians or Alice to hear. Alice didn't bother trying to listen in and instead bounced on her heels as she glanced nervously at the dark end of the hallway. She knew this was the reason they came there. To seek out the Seelie Court's aid and ask the Unseelie Court to locate the faerie who helped Tom. And they'd done all that and more but something still felt off. Alice couldn't shake the dread coiling in her stomach like a tight spring. She tried pushing it down by thinking of Max and the idea that she may see him again soon. The restlessness in her legs returned again and she shuffled next to Jack, their fingers still linked.

The Guardians stood in close formation a few feet away from the faeries and Jack used that to his advantage and leaned his head in close.

"Not that I don't appreciate the help but I really don't like being in debt to people," he whispered bitterly. "Because you know the second they need something they're going to use this against us and we'll have to come running."

"That only seems fair don't you think?" Tooth countered wisely, voice equally soft.

"Fair wouldn't be the word I'd use," Jack murmured. Tooth rolled her eyes so hard her head rolled with them.

"You know, I really don't get why you and Bunny butt heads so much. The two of you are the exact same person," she said. Jack made a sour face at this.

"I resent that. _He's_ annoying."

"That's exactly what Bunny would say."

Jack fumed silently and Alice hardly paid attention to the rest of the conversation, instead focusing intently on the end of the hallway.

"Come on, come on," she muttered, staring at the portal expectantly. She felt eyes on her and she didn't have to look to recognize the blue eyes gazing amusedly at her.

"You're excited," Jack noted, barely containing the mirth in his tone.

"I am," Alice agreed. She then spared him a fleeting glance. "Why, should I not be?"

"I think you have every reason to be," Jack smirked. "It's just been a while since I've seen you so…" his eyes trailed her fidgeting form. "Bouncy."

Alice bit the inside of her cheek.

"Jack," she said carefully. "Do you feel… weird about all of this? Like—like maybe it could just be another trick?" Jack's eyes met hers and she had to look away. "I want to feel so happy and trust me, I do. I really do. But with the way things have been going…" her voice faded and she shook her head before gazing at the portal again. The past few days had really awakened the pessimist in her.

"I mean, it'd be stupid not to have doubts at this point," said Jack, sounding slightly exasperated at how the past few days had turned out for them. "It hasn't exactly been a walk in the park for us," he gave her a knowing look. "I think we have to be ready for anything, good or bad."

"They don't even know if he's hurt or not," Alice stared absently. "They wouldn't know. What if he's in pain or scared or—" she stopped herself short. It felt like her tongue had lodged itself to the roof of her mouth.

The winter spirit gave her a tender look and squeezed her hand again. "Didn't you say before that you'd know if something happened to him?" he reminded her. He stepped closer and she felt his breath on her temple. "Do you feel like it did?"

Alice's eyes flickered to his again and searched his face. There was something resolute in her gut that told her no, Max was fine. He was going to be alright. She clinged to that feeling and it helped her break their gaze.

"No," she said, voice firm. "No, he's alive," she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "He's alive."

She repeated the words like a mantra, watching them dart across the back of her eyelids and listening to them echo in her brain. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a familiar red coat manifesting at the end of the corridor and her heart lurched.

The relief was obvious as her shoulders sagged at the sight of North and Bunny emerging from the darkness. The shadows of the portal licked at their sides as they stepped through and Alice's smile was brief before it slowly dropped. Following behind the Seelie Guards that escorted them were dark figures, tall and threatening with glimmering yellow eyes. She tensed, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. They must have been the Unseelie faeries.

' _Alice_.'

She jolted at the sound of her name and quickly tore her gaze away from the frightening Faes. She heard North greeting Tooth and Sandy but their voices sounded far away. She turned her head from left to right trying to find who called her. Jack's hand was no longer in hers and her fingers gripped the open air at the emptiness.

' _Alice_ ,' she heard again and she looked up.

She was met with a plain white ceiling and her brows furrowed. She didn't really know what she was expecting. She tilted her head back down to face forward and she gasped, eyes wide. She was staring at a white curtain. It was pulled aside to reveal a small room littered with trays and a grey counter. On the far side of the room a door stood ajar leading out into a bustling hallway. Harsh chemicals were on the air, like rubbing alcohol had been spilled over every surface, and the scent burned her nose.

 _Where am I?_ she panicked.

Something soft tickled her fingertips and she whipped her head down, gasping at the sight of a hospital gown with blankets pooling at her waist. There was a white band tied to her wrist with her name labeled across the front and an IV drip taped into her skin.

 _CHAPLIN, ALICE J._

Her eyes widened further. With a strangled breath she swatted at the IV, ready to rip it out, only to feel nothing there. She patted roughly at her hand trying to find the needle when the air around her shifted.

Suddenly she was back in the Seelie Court standing in a long corridor as the Guardians spoke quickly around her. It's like the world zeroed back into focus and the ambient noise multiplied. Alice's arms were hovering in midair, a slightly deranged look on her face as she tried to regain her composure. What the hell just happened?

"Alice?" someone asked and she inhaled sharply, worried that she was going to lose it again, only to meet the wise face of North as he approached her. "I think we found Max," he told her and Alice tried to steady her racing pulse, blinking away the spots in her vision. Her blood was pumping furiously in her ears threatening to drown out the Guardian's voice. "He's here in Northern Woods."

"Um," Alice wet her lips and quickly shook her head. "Y—yeah the Queen told us," she tried to ignore how woozy she felt. She cleared her throat. Now was _not_ the time to lose focus. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan's to blow him outta there and stop anyone who gets in our way," Bunny declared from behind the jolly man.

North rolled his eyes. "But more eloquently than that."

"S'bout as eloquent as it's gonna get, mate. I prefer easy and to the point. Shoot first and ask questions later if you get my drift."

"Well it's good thing you are not in charge!"

Bunny looked properly offended.

Alice tuned out their bickering to rest a hand on her temple. There was a dull ache in her skull that was distracting her from paying any real attention to the people around her. She worried her bottom lip and thought back to the… what was it? A hallucination? A vision? Whatever it was, it was hitting too close to home. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Rumpelstiltskin came to her in a dream trying to convince her that she was unconscious in a hospital somewhere and then she actually saw herself lying in a hospital bed. It wouldn't have been the first time it happened. She remembered the vivid dream she had not too long ago where she was strapped to a cot in a white room.

Then there was the voice that whispered her name. Twice. Clearly no one else heard it. She was too confused to tell if she recognized the voice but she'd be willing to bet that it sounded an awful lot like Tom.

"I'd have to agree with the kangaroo on this one," Jack piped up with a meek hand raise.

North scowled. "Oh you would choose now to side with him."

"Do you really think we have time to come up with a strategy?" Jack countered. "Like two of us scout the entrance while everyone else sneaks around back? We don't even know what we're up against! I say we stick together and go in guns blazing. Figuratively speaking."

"Is not that simple," North argued.

"Oh but it is," Bunny interjected with an animated paw. He gestured wildly to the handful of other beings in the room. "We got… what? Five, six, seven… _eight_ faeries with us! Nine if you count Tooth."

"I _am_ a fairy," Tooth deadpanned. Bunny waved her comment aside.

Alice was beginning to feel lightheaded again. Her hand clutched her head tighter and she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing deeply. She opened her mouth to say something— _anything_ —because something was obviously wrong but she couldn't connect her brain to her mouth. Then she heard it again.

' _Alice_ …'

Her eyes snapped open. She did recognize the voice. A shiver raced up her spine and her jaw trembled.

' _I see you didn't listen to me,_ ' he taunted, voice wispy and faint like a cloud of smoke seeping into the air. ' _Still running around with all your make believe friends chasing after a ghost that doesn't even exist,_ ' he cackled, tone manic and cold, and she stared ahead in horror. ' _Honestly, if your life was a movie I'd pay big bucks to see it. Can you imagine what kind of money that'd make at the box office?_ '

"You're not real," she whispered, shaking her head to reassure herself. "This isn't real. It's all in my head."

' _Are we playing two truths and a lie now? With those three options I bet I'll win easy,_ ' she heard the grin in his voice. ' _'Schizophrenic girl plays hide and seek with childhood fairy tales.' Come on, tell me you wouldn't watch that,_ ' Alice panted as her fingers tangled in her hair. She backed up several feet into a wall and leaned against it before she lost her balance. ' _Let's see, which fairy tale would you be? Hmm,_ ' he hummed mockingly. She gritted her teeth. ' _Well the obvious one is Alice from Wonderland. You_ are _astoundingly curious after all. How funny would that be? It's like your parents knew you were destined to be crazy when they gave you the name._ '

"Stop," Alice hissed through her teeth. Her voice wavered and she didn't sound at all intimidating.

He ignored her as if she hadn't spoken.

' _Did you know there's actually a thing called the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome? Yeah. It's when someone's perception gets warped and distorted so things look bigger or smaller or closer or farther away than they really are,_ ' Alice squeaked as she watched the floor shrink as if she'd grown fifty feet and shot through the roof. Her legs looked miles long and it made her feel like she was balancing on the edge of a cliff as she squinted down at her tiny feet through a fish-eye lens. ' _Now it'd be a_ real _kicker if you had that problem, too._ '

Her stomach lodged itself in her throat and she felt her knees slam into the ground, feeling too heavy to hold herself up. Suddenly there were a pair of steady hands gripping her shoulders and Alice yelped, startled by the contact. The voices around her were muffled like cotton balls had been stuffed in her ears. She gazed wide-eyed at the person in front of her without really seeing them as her eyesight attempted to return to normal.

' _Let's talk about Max for a second,_ ' he continued as if he were casually discussing the weather.

Alice leaned forward, feeling her forehead meet the fabric of someone's clothes. She gripped her hair tighter, moaning at the pain that was intensifying behind her eyes. It's like the more he talked, the more pain she felt. There was a faint _beep, beep, beep_ in the back of her mind like the droning of a heart monitor. Something sharp poked the back of her hand like a needle taped into her skin again. Her nose burned at the waft of alcohol.

' _See, Maxy here wants you to wake up. If you don't, the big bad adults are going to take him away. You don't want that, do you?_ '

"Liar," Alice spat through another wave of dizziness. The voices around her were still muffled and frantic but it wasn't hard to ignore them. "You have him. You _took_ him."

' _Nope, sorry. Try again._ '

The world flashed and blurred and she was sitting in a hospital bed again, scratchy sheets itching at her bare legs with an IV drip stationed at her right. The walls were bare and white, the only color in the room belonging to a decorative plant sitting at the far window. When the light hit it just right, it shimmered glossy and stiff. It was fake.

The dull ache was still present behind her eyes and she squinted, reaching her free hand up to press her palm against the skin. Instead her fingers touched gauze. She patted along the crown of her head tracing the gauze that was wrapped around it. There was a tender spot at her hairline and she distinctly remembered cracking her head on the pavement when she was pushed out of the way of an oncoming truck. It felt bruised and fresh like it happened yesterday.

"Oh," she winced at the tenderness. She pulled her hand away and gazed around the room with half-lidded eyes. Her mind felt hazy like she'd just woken up from a deep sleep. There was a chair pulled up to the left of her bed, a small jacket hanging off its arm. Her brows pulled taut at this, wondering who'd been sitting there and why they left. She didn't have enough time to linger on it before the world warped again and suddenly she got a face full of frosted blue hoodie.

"Alice?!" a boy's voice shouted hysterically. The air around him felt distinctly cold. "What's wrong? Alice, can you hear me?"

"Jack?" Alice asked, feeling disoriented. The pain was slowly subsiding and she felt sluggish and tired.

"Hey! Yeah, it's me," his cold hands gripped her face, hoisting her up to look at him. His blue eyes were wide with concern.

"What happened?" North's booming voice startled her and her gut trembled at the multiple eyes that were glaring down at her.

"Jack… I—"

"Is she alright?" she heard Tooth ask. Alice shrunk back a bit, pulling out of Jack's grip and his jaws clenched at the onslaught of questions.

"Would you give us a minute?" he snapped over his shoulder.

"I heard him," Alice whispered and Jack gave her an unreadable look. "He was inside my head…"

"What's she talkin' about?" Bunny demanded, having been the only Guardian besides Jack who heard her.

Jack's expression hardened and his lips formed a thin line. With a careful grip he stood and pulled her up with him. Her equilibrium was off and she held onto him tightly. She shied away from all the prying eyes and Jack shielded her as he circled an arm around her shoulders.

"Give us a second," he bit, leaving no room for protests as he led her down the hall out of hearing range. The Queen Regent was scrutinizing them closely as they passed her and Alice immediately avoided eye contact, her curly red hair falling down into her face as she bowed her head. The second they were out of earshot of the others Jack tugged her back in front of him and dug his fingers into her shoulders as he watched her in tense silence. His blue eyes skimmed her face as if the answers to all his questions were there. Alice squirmed under the force of his stare and Jack's eyes softened a bit but his stony expression didn't waver. "You heard him?" he repeated. "Rumpelstiltskin?"

Alice nodded slowly.

"What did he say?" Jack asked calmly though the underlying anger was apparent.

"He's…" Alice paused. The hollowness in her stomach felt like a weight pressing on her gut. She swallowed and gazed at Jack, unblinking. "Ever since the dream he's been trying to tell me that you guys aren't real," she admitted quietly.

Jack was taken aback. He literally jerked his head back as if her words physically smacked him in the face.

" _What?_ That's stupid, we're obviously right here."

"He told me that I'm lying in a hospital," she said, the words just spilling out now that they started. "He said that I'm unconscious in a coma in a hospital somewhere and that everything that's happened so far has just been my imagination. And usually I wouldn't believe that but I mean, none of this makes any sense you know? I've told you that over and over again and sometimes I see myself sitting in a bed inside a hospital and it feels so real—"

"When?" Jack demanded. "When did you see yourself in a hospital?"

"Right now," she whispered. Jack blinked, unable to hide his surprise. "Behind you I see a door that leads out into a busy hallway. Probably the inside of a trauma center. I can feel the sheets under my legs and they're itchy. I'm in a room alone and I don't know why," her eyes watered.

"No," Jack shook his head. "No, you're not in a hospital, Alice. You're right here. _I'm_ right here. See," he reached down and clasped her hands in his, twining their fingers and squeezing. "I'm touching you. You're touching me. You feel that?" he squeezed again, running his thumbs over the delicate skin between her thumbs and pointer fingers. She did feel it. His skin was chilly but surprisingly soft. "He's just messing with your head. We're all here with you. You've never been alone. I promise," she shivered and Jack cracked a weak smile. "You wouldn't be cold if I wasn't here. See? That's proof."

Alice bit her lip and sniffed. "This isn't the first time this has happened," she confessed a hair above a whisper. Jack's forehead wrinkled. "I've dreamt before that I was lying in a bed inside a bright white room. The only difference is I couldn't move then. It was like I was strapped down or my limbs were too heavy to move them. And then I could hear this beeping…" Alice trailed off, eyes glazed over. "And when I'd wake up I'd still hear it. Sometimes when I stop thinking and just listen—" her eyes met his again, "—I can hear it. It sounds like a heart monitor. And when I hear it I'm awake. At least, I'm pretty sure I am. It's like I can always hear it. Like it's just beeping on and on in the background and I never notice it until I focus on it."

Jack's lips were curled like he tasted something bitter. His hands tightened around hers until his knuckles turned impossibly whiter.

"Why haven't you said anything?" he hissed. "Why didn't you tell us when he first got inside your head?"

"I didn't know if it was real or not," she admitted timidly. "I didn't know if it was really just a dream. I didn't want to sound crazy. Even now I think I sound crazy."

"Our lives are full of crazy, Alice," Jack told her. "When you think you're dead and then wake up to find that you're actually an immortal spirt of winter then come talk to me about crazy."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She felt guilty at the act of withholding the information but even still she wasn't completely convinced he and the Guardians needed to know. But since she already started… "That's not all, Jack," she continued carefully. "He knows about how I'm scared that Max will be taken away from me. That child services will take him away the second they decide I'm unfit to care for him," Alice shook her head. "And if all of this is true then you know they won't hesitate. You're the only person I've told about those things. I've not told anyone else. Hell, I don't even think my own _aunt_ knows the full truth. So how could he have known?"

"He's inside your head, Alice," Jack stated firmly. "I don't know how he got there but he found a way in and he's using that to his advantage to toy with you. Things like him know how to bring out the worst in people. And if Pitch is involved in all this, fear's kind of the guy's specialty," Jack scowled. "If he's been watching you from the get-go he knows what your biggest fear is and he knows how to use it against you."

Alice looked like she tasted something sour but she didn't say anything.

"Does anybody want to share with the class about what's going on here?" Bunny's impatient voice tore through her thoughts.

Alice's head snapped in their direction and Jack glanced over his shoulder. The Guardians stood still, leaning forward as if they'd been trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. Bunny looked irritable but North and the others appeared concerned. Alice's eyes avoided the Fae Guards whose intense stares were boring holes into the side of her head. Their faces were blank as if the conversation held no real value to them aside from the Queen Regent. She was gazing at Alice with intense scrutiny as if she heard every word and found that Alice was now untrustworthy. Alice swallowed thickly and gazed back at Jack suddenly feeling very small. He turned back to her and the questioning look in his eyes said it all.

Alice bit the inside of her cheek.

"I didn't even want to tell _you_ , Jack," she confessed quietly. Jack looked torn. "If he really is inside my head then there's nothing we can do about it anyway. The important thing is that we find Max. That's always been our mission, right?"

"Not at the cost of you," Jack denied immediately. "If getting Max is going to hurt you then we have to find another way."

She shook her head. "No, Jack. That's not how this works. I'll do whatever it takes to get my son back. Whatever it takes," she repeated slowly. "You can't stop me. Please don't try to stop me."

"Like hell," Jack scoffed like she just challenged him. "I will tie you to a goddamn chair if I have to."

"Max is _my_ responsibility—"

"—And you're mine!"

Alice paused. Jack was glaring down at her, giving her some sort of look like he was trying to convey something through it that he couldn't say out loud. Alice didn't let herself read too far into it.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Jack," she said gently. She slipped her hands out of his and his brows pinched as his hands fell limply to his sides. "I know my limitations. I get that I'm not immortal like you with powers but I'm not weak either so stop acting like I am. I'm not fragile and it's not your job to look after me," she gave him an intense look. "Max is your responsibility. _Only_ Max. You know this. It's only supposed to be about him. Isn't that what you've been told?"

Jack stared silently down at her until Bunny whistled.

" _Hello?_ " the Pooka waved his arms around, fur bristled. "Are we suddenly invisible? Do we speak a different language? Do I need to ask again through interpretive dance? What the _hell_ is going on?"

Alice opened her mouth to respond but it was Jack's voice everyone heard.

"Nothing," he said, not taking his eyes off hers. "Alice is just worried about Max. She thinks something might be wrong," the lie slipped smoothly off his tongue like he'd done it a million times. Alice slowly closed her mouth. "We better hurry," he tilted his head at her. "After all, he needs us."

He backed away slowly and finally tore his gaze away from Alice to march over to where the other Guardians were standing. North was still watching Alice in concern but Bunny had followed Jack's movements with his eyes that were narrowed in suspicion. Jack met Bunny's gaze evenly and gestured pointedly down the hallway.

"Well? Let's go," he said expectantly. Bunny's eyes narrowed further, seemingly forgetting about Alice in favor of sneering at the winter spirit's sudden attitude.

Alice felt the weight in her stomach all over again but this time it was guilt that made her nauseous. She didn't want to hurt Jack's feelings. She knew he cared about her and she appreciated that more than words could describe but this wasn't about her. It had never been about her. Rumpelstiltskin obviously wanted Max for a reason. Maybe he wanted her too, she didn't know. Maybe she really was crazy after all and didn't know what her reality was anymore. There were hundreds of possibilities that none of them had time to think about. But it wasn't about her. Any leftover baggage, emotional or otherwise, could be dealt with _after_ Max was home safe.

Bunny led the way down the hall after a quick shove to Jack's shoulder. The muscles in Jack's jaw clenched but he followed the warrior bunny nonetheless. North's bushy eyebrows were furrowed in Alice's direction and she attempted to give him a reassuring smile that probably ended up looking more like a grimace. The two walked side by side down the hall with the faeries trailing stoutly behind them.

"Are you sure you are alright? That was mighty big fall," he said, eyes glistening with worry. Alice heaved a sigh that wasn't entirely forced.

"I'm fine. It's just the situation," she said tiredly. "It's got me really stressed out. I'll feel better when we find Max," it was mostly the truth.

North seemed awkward asking his next question. "And, ah… and Jack?"

Alice didn't really know what to say to that. She pursed her lips as they weaved through the hallways until she recognized where they were. They were leaving through the main entrance of the Seelie Court.

She finally settled with, "Jack's worried about me."

"Ah," North nodded as if everything suddenly made sense.

"Sometimes it's hard," Alice started, watching their feet as they glided through the Seelie Court's grand entry room. Her eyes followed the colored tiles beneath her dirty shoes as they walked, feeling slightly chagrined that she was leaving smudges behind. She felt eyes on her once again from the faerie population around them but she ignored their stares. "You care too much and it starts to get in the way. Sometimes I feel like life would be so much easier if we just didn't care at all."

North hummed. "Maybe so. But if you care then that usually means you have something worth keeping."

"But if we didn't care at all then we'd have nothing to lose," she countered. North cracked a smile.

"I think that comes with being human," he said, lifting his chin. "Caring and becoming attached to things. It is what keeps your humanity intact."

"Is that something you have to do?" she asked, glancing up at him with carefully gentle eyes. "Try to keep your humanity?"

There was a pause.

"Yes."

And they didn't say anything else.

When the group finally reached the dirt tunnels they entered from, the Queen Regent stopped and faced the rest of the company.

"This is where I leave you," she said, voice velvety smooth and airy. Her teal-colored eyes flitted over everyone in the tunnel though it was hard to tell who she was directly looking at. Alice had a feeling she was on the receiving end of her stares a few times. "I suppose the proper thing would be for me to wish you luck. I'm not sure how you lot always manage to find yourselves in trouble," there was a slight hint of amusement in the Fae's tone which surprised Alice. "But if this boy is as important to you as you say he is then I hope you find him. Though you've already assumed they would, I will allow some of my Guards to accompany you," Bunny looked a little sheepish at this because he'd been the one to assume. "They will be of some help to you. As you said before, we do have a pact. It's our job to help one another after all."

Alice detected a hint of sarcasm in the Queen Regent's voice as if she were only saying this to appease her audience. They wouldn't have had to go through nearly as much trouble if the faerie really thought that way. But no one commented on it and North nodded gratefully.

"We appreciate your help. If you ever need anything from us…"

"I'll be sure to come running," the Queen Regent finished with a smirk and Jack rolled his eyes on North's other side.

"Right. Great," North nodded, clearing his throat uncomfortably. He glanced at his counterparts. "Well, let's be off then."

Leaving the Seelie Court was just as disorienting as entering it had been. They passed through a wall of vines that dangled from a dirt wall. It went against Alice's instincts to walk forward because there was just a _wall_ there so how could walking into it get her anywhere but with a nudge from Tooth she stepped through it and suddenly everything cooled and she was met with fresh nighttime air.

The grass was soft underneath her shoes like she was walking on a sponge and she blinked, jerking forward a bit before turning to face behind her. The wall of branches from the willow tree shifted in the breeze and she watched Tooth emerge from them completely unfazed. Alice shook herself out of her stupor, wondering when she'd finally get used to the laws of physics in these magical worlds. You'd think all the weird stuff would've just become the norm by now but nope, she still had to work on pulling her jaw off the ground.

"Everyone here?" North scanned their group. A few Seelie and Unseelie Guards materialized from behind the branches and though their appearances stiffened his shoulders, North nodded in their direction. "Right. Good. Well," he cleared his throat. "Let me explain. While Bunny and I were in Unseelie Court, we saw Unseelie faerie and human on their map. There is mountain east—"

"—west—"

"—er, thank you, Bunnymund… _west_ of here. That is where they are. Unseelie King said it was his belief that mountain was unoccupied. Rumpelstiltskin must have dug his way in which means hard part will be finding that one spot in if there are not others."

"Now when you say 'dug his way in', did you mean with a shovel or are we going to have to go find some spoons?"

"I'm gonna hit him, North."

"Quiet, Jack. And no you're not, Bunny. We do not have time for this nonsense."

"I'll have you know it was a legitimate question."

North sighed tiredly like reigning in his temper was beyond his level of skill before running a large hand down the length of his snowy white beard.

"Once we find way in," he continued, wisely choosing to ignore Jack's remark, "then we can go from there."

"Do we really know for sure that Max is the human in there?" Tooth asked timidly. She was fluttering anxiously next to Alice wringing her tiny luminescent fingers together. "I mean, I know we've said this a handful of times already and I'm probably preaching to the choir, but what if this is a trap?"

"I'd say the possibility of that is pretty high," Bunny answered her, adjusting the boomerangs on his back. "But it doesn't matter. There's a human in there with an Unseelie faerie whose sanity is extremely questionable. We need to help 'em no matter who they are."

"It could be someone on his side," Tooth countered.

Bunny shrugged. "Could be. But I don't think we can really afford to take that chance," his dark eyes bounced around to everyone in their group. "Any questions? Concerns? Speak now or forever hold your peace," he waited with mirth, tall ears perked.

Alice wetted her lips and eyed the faeries behind them who stood tall and silent like statues. Their regal faces were emotionless masks and Alice looked away quickly before accidentally making eye contact. When no one in their company said anything, Bunny nodded with a satisfied look and gestured towards North.

"Lead the way then."

A silence fell over everyone after that and Alice couldn't tell if it made her uncomfortable or not. She couldn't figure out how North knew which direction was west because she had no survival skills but there was only a moment's hesitation before he began marching down one end of the forest. She didn't presume to know if he was right or wrong and she followed slowly behind Tooth.

Sandy floated alongside her and from time to time she would watch him out of the corner of her eye. He was such a quiet being. Most of the time she forgot he was even there. There was something so subtly radiant about him though. Maybe it was the way he glistened and twinkled beneath the lit canopies of the trees. The glow from the mysterious fruits that dangled in their branches cast a soft reflection over him that was almost tranquil. She wondered if that was why he was the Sandman. His presence alone could probably relax her into a peaceful sleep with ease. Walking next to him was probably what was keeping her nerves from running haywire.

She was scared. She wasn't so proud that she couldn't admit that. Like everyone else, she had her doubts about what they were walking into; her probably more so than anyone else because she'd never done this before. But she wanted to believe that maybe some higher power was giving them a get-out-of-jail-free card. Things usually weren't that easy but if she thought about it, when was this situation ever easy? This was the first _real_ lead they had in days. She was ready to go in headfirst if it meant she was one step closer to Max.

They walked for a while. Time seemed to have no meaning in the Northern Woods. The atmosphere was quiet save for the rustling of the leaves in the wind. The sky was a deep purple rather than a dark blue, the pearlescent glow of this world's moon casting an ethereal glow amongst the plants and grass.

Alice's eyes caught the head of silvery white hair that walked a few paces in front of her. Part of her felt weird not having Jack by her side. Over the course of the week he'd always been there, shoulder brushing against hers. She figured she'd somehow gotten used to it and now that he wasn't there, it was like part of her was missing. The open space next to her felt empty and wrong like a phantom limb. Her brain acknowledged that something used to be there and it no longer was. She wanted to apologize to him for the way she acted because it wasn't his fault but instead she looked the other way and tightened her lips.

The heavy silence continued until Alice saw North's coat lift as he pointed up ahead.

"That must be it," he said.

She followed the line of his finger and noticed the point of a mountain peeking over the treetops. In person it looked more like an elevated rocky hill rather than the giant mountain she pictured it to be in her head. It didn't take away from its sheer mass and the closer they got, the sharper and more dangerous the rocks on its surface looked. The tip of the mountain which jutted up from the rocks far off in the distance was eroded into the shape of a jagged hook and Alice found that looking at it made her uneasy.

The base of the mountain billowed up from the ground not far from where they all eventually stopped to take in the sight. The mountain was nestled snuggly in the center of a line of trees taller than any Alice had ever seen. They rose high, dark and ominous above their heads, and the hook tip of the mountain peeked above their leaves in the starry sky. Up close she realized that the mountain was decorated with a mix of red rocks and black bedrock. She'd never seen colors like that on anything that formed naturally before in her life. Then again, nothing about this world was really natural.

"Looks promising," Bunny quipped distastefully. "Real homey."

"Where do you suppose we start?" Alice asked faintly. Looking up at the mountain made her feel dizzy.

"Pick a side and start circling around I guess," said Jack. Wary looks passed through the group. "Unless you guys have a better idea?" he asked, glancing somewhere over Alice's head.

She turned around, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sight of a Seelie Guard hovering a few inches behind her. She'd completely forgotten they were there. Their footsteps didn't make a sound on the grass and dead leaves. She took a subtle step back out of the faerie's space; though she had a feeling she was more uncomfortable with the close proximity than they were. The Fae's lavender eyes glowed.

"St. North was right," the faerie behind her eventually spoke up, his deep voice resonating in her stomach. "Chances are there is only one way in. It would make sense to draw you in from a certain direction. My suggestion would be to split up, as the blonde one said, to cover more ground quickly. We don't want to waste time."

North didn't look pleased with the idea but he didn't seem to have any other alternatives. He pinched the bridge of his nose before gesturing wildly with his hand.

"Fine. We part ways here. If you find _any_ thing, anything at all, call for us," he glanced at the Unseelie Guards standing tall next to him and tilted his head.

He and Bunny began heading left with the Unseelie Guards whose dark armor blended in with their surroundings to the point of rendering them nearly invisible save for their unblinking yellow eyes.

Tooth took that as her cue to begin heading right with Sandy. Alice couldn't hold back the breath of relief at the fact that the Seelie Guards were coming with them. She felt nervous in either race's presence but at least the Seelie Guards didn't make her skin crawl. She fell into step beside Jack without meaning to who was walking behind Tooth. He shifted the staff in his hand absently as his eyes skimmed the outside of the mountain's base.

"'The blonde one'," he mimicked the Seelie Guard's voice from earlier in a sardonic mutter. "My hair's _white_. If you don't know my name, at least get that part right."

"Would you rather I call you the irritating one instead?" the Fae asked, startling everyone with his monotonous response. Jack turned his head comically slow to peek at the faerie over his shoulder, not having expected the Seelie to actually hear him. He then rolled the shoulder he looked over like he was trying to shake off a tremor.

"Well at least that would be a bit more accurate," he murmured reluctantly, tone slightly sheepish. Alice couldn't help but crack a tiny grin.

They walked along the base of the mountain. She could feel the Seelie Guards behind her on high alert. She didn't know what kind of power they had but the air hummed around them. She wasn't sure if it made her feel safe or not but as she glanced out at the deep black abyss of the woods to her right, she realized that having them there was better than having no one at all.

She swallowed as she tried to ignore the eerie darkness around them. She missed the glowing fruits that grew from the treetops. They stopped showing up after they first spotted the mountain's hook, like they crossed a line that divided them from the land of the fair folk. She didn't know what kind of land this was. It felt dangerous and she didn't like that this was where Max was being kept.

"I'm going to fly up to get a better vantage point," said Tooth, her arms already outstretched as her wings began to flutter on her back. She braced herself to push upward off the forest floor when Jack quickly stopped her.

"Do you think that's such a good idea?" he asked, arm held out to her. "I mean, what if something sees you?"

Tooth gave them all knowing looks. "I think whatever's here already knows where we are," she told him quietly. "But I'll stay below the trees. I just don't want us to walk around aimlessly down here if there's a way in somewhere else."

Jack seemed reluctant to let her go but he dropped his arm and she gave him a brief smile before darting up into the air. Alice watched the fairy swoop and flutter along the base of the trees as she scanned the mountain. The faint beams of moonlight that peaked through the canopy of the trees projected a shadow of Tooth's shape in the grass as she occasionally blocked the beams' path. Sandy seemed to be keeping a watchful eye on her which appeased Jack for the time being who was going between watching ahead and glancing fretfully over his shoulder. Alice could only hope he was nervous of being watched rather than already knowing someone was out there watching them. She shivered in the breeze and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"You holding up alright?" came Jack's voice. His tone was casual and light, something Alice wasn't entirely used to coming from him, but she nodded anyway.

"Yeah, I suppose," she answered. Jack's lips thinned but he didn't say anything because a voice was heard a bit of a distance ahead of them.

"Up here!" they called. It sounded like North. Jack and Alice exchanged looks before they ran towards it, the Seelie Guards easily matching their strides from behind. It took long enough to reach them that Alice was out of breath by the time five other figures came into view. They almost had to circle around the mountain to get to them and when they did they spotted North, Bunny and the Unseelie Guards standing a few feet up the mountain. "Entrance is here!" North announced when he saw them.

Tooth flew with ease up to where they were standing precariously on the edge of large, pointed boulders, with Sandy at her side. Jack took Alice's hand and helped her climb the few feet they needed to get to the others. There seemed to be a gully in the mountain in front of where North stood and when they stepped up onto the ledge the rest of them were sharing, North motioned to one of the Unseelie Guards.

"It's a hidden passage," said the Unseelie as if he'd been waiting for the right moment to explain, pressing his palm into a yellow-stained rock that jutted out from the wall. "We use these in our tunnels. The key to unlocking them is to find the rock holding their latch in place," he twisted the stained rock, his thin hand curving around the stone as it grated against the rock around it. It was turned at a ninety-degree angle and then he pushed it in. There was a deep groan in the gully that made everyone jump before dust sprang out of the crevices in the rocks and a door was opened that Alice would have never thought was there had she not seen it open herself.

"Ah-ha!" North chuckled, rubbing his hands together gleefully before coughing as he inhaled a bit of dirt. He waved his hands in front of his face, squinting through the cloud of dust particles.

They peered in through the opening. Alice saw nothing but darkness within and her instincts told her to run as far away from it as possible which must have meant they were in the right place.

"You first," Bunny droned, glancing over at North. North huffed, still hacking a bit from the dust that was now lodged in his trachea.

"Always me first," he wheezed, giving Bunny the stink eye before cautiously stepping through the rocky doorway.

The Unseelie Guards followed him in along with Bunny and one of the Unseelie's lifted their palm. An orange glow emitted from it and Alice stared open-mouthed only for a second before it disappeared out of her sight as the Guards entered the mountain. Tooth and Sandy flew inside after them and Jack gave Alice another one of his looks before they took up the rear of the group with the Seelie Guards at their sides.

The light from the Unseelie's palm ignited the area more than Alice had expected and the orange hue cast a warmth upon the area that made Alice a little more comfortable. She was only mildly relaxed for a second though before the door resealed itself behind them and she jumped. That was never a good sign.

Their group exchanged precarious looks before venturing further into the mountain which seemed to be a maze of tunnels, a theme that was apparently not uncommon as of late.

To Alice's surprise, it looked like the interior of the mountain had once been a small fortress. Tunnels were carved out of the rock that held the structure up like old abandoned mines, but instead of mine carts and tracks there was ripped carpet and black tile underneath the litter of fallen rocks. Alice carefully kicked away the dirt by her shoes and a velvet brown material peeked through the debris. Her brows furrowed and she looked around, rubbing her nose at the stale scent on the air. It was clear this place had been sealed off from the world for a long time.

The tunnel was dark and narrow branching off in three different directions: one on each side of them and one straight ahead. On either side of them seemed to lay tunnels that extended further outward and were even narrower than the one they came through while the one ahead was a bit wider with a few open rooms framed by wooden beams.

"What is this place?" Alice asked silently. And even as she whispered her voice seemed to carry farther into the mountain than she would have liked.

"I don't know," Jack replied, gazing around slowly.

"This might have once been a place of refuge," one of the Seelie Guards suggested. He seemed to have the same idea as Alice and scuffed his thick boot on the dirty ground to reveal the worn carpet. "This rug is made of high class material. It's not cheap but it doesn't have any of the royal colors either."

"Are you saying this place might have been buried under the rocks?" Alice asked carefully. She'd never directly spoken to one of the Seelie Guards before and she wasn't very happy that she suddenly decided now was a good time to do so.

The Seelie Guard only spared her a cursory glance.

"No," he stepped forward carefully. "It's probably always been this way. Hence the reason it was a place of refuge. No one would assume to look for anyone here."

"Makes sense," said Tooth, shoulders squared as she eyed their surroundings.

"We will move forward," said an Unseelie Guard. His voice was gravely and low and gave Alice goosebumps. She glanced back at the faerie who motioned towards the wide hallway ahead.

"Right, we'll come with," Bunny cautiously agreed, nose twitching and ears bowed. He inched behind the Unseelie Guards with his boomerangs at the ready and Sandy floated alongside him, apparently having decided to tag along.

Bunny nodded to North and then to Jack and Alice before he crept through the tunnel, passing the open rooms in favor of following the tunnel with the dark faeries whose orange lights followed them. Sandy saluted Alice and she gave the Sandman a brief nod much like Bunny had, watching as his golden dream sand glided through the air and around the corner leaving a trail of glowing dust in its wake.

As if it'd been choreographed, Tooth and North began to slink down the dark tunnel on their right at the same time Jack and Alice moved towards one of the open rooms in the direction Bunny and Sandy had disappeared. No one said anything to one another which in retrospect should have been odd because North was always averse to splitting up.

Later on, Alice would maybe realize that they'd been separated on purpose but for the time being she felt compelled to investigate those rooms.

The remaining Seelie Guards hunched defensively and slid down the tunnel on the left in the opposite direction of North and Tooth, leaving Jack and Alice alone in the darkness of the fortress.

Jack entered one of the rooms first, tapping his staff on the ground to ignite a soft beam of light from the tip. Alice was standing close to his back as he paused in the threshold, eyes dancing around the room with open curiosity. Alice peeked over his shoulder, blinking at the glittering items resting on old rickety tables. Dusty trinkets that Alice had only seen in black and white movies of mad scientists were scattered about the room covering every available surface in disarray.

When Jack carefully stepped into the room, Alice was able to get a closer look. There were rolled up scrolls in cupboards beneath the tables, stained and dusted with dirt and stray rocks. Cracked beakers rested on the tables next to open booklets of writing Alice couldn't read. Most of the pages had faded with time, only leaving behind a few wayward markings that didn't seem to mean anything. Alice bent forward, peering into one of the beakers at the sparkling grey dust inside them. It looked soft and fragile to the touch and upon closer inspection Alice recognized it to be ash. When she leaned back, she realized it was all over the tables.

"I wonder if there was a fire here," she thought aloud before looking up at Jack.

Jack glanced back at her over his shoulder. "Experiments maybe? If this doesn't look like an evil scientist's lab then I don't know what does."

They moved ahead and Jack was being extra careful where he walked because of his bare feet.

"Watch your step," he advised quietly.

They stepped over a fallen stool that was missing one of its legs and were met with the entrance of another much darker room. Jack held his staff into the room first to light it up. It was much barer than the room they were currently standing in. He waved his staff from one side of the room to the other before silently walking through the door, holding an arm out in front of Alice as if to keep her from wandering ahead of him.

"Stay behind me," he told her and Alice was not going to argue with him on that, though she did glance warily over her shoulder once. There were pinpricks on the back of her neck she couldn't shake off like someone was watching them from afar. She rolled her shoulders to try and ward the feeling away before turning back around. Alice could hear her heart hammering in her eardrums and she swallowed, wincing at the dryness of her throat. She then paused and looked behind her again, brows furrowing.

"Jack, do you know where the others are?" she asked. It just now struck her that only her and Jack were in the room.

The sound of padding feet stopped and Jack seemingly turned to look in the direction she was facing.

"Um," there was a moment of hesitation. "Weren't they right behind us?" he asked, sounding slightly confused as if he weren't sure himself.

"I…" Alice opened and closed her mouth. Her brain felt foggy. She tried to remember what happened after they entered the fortress but it was hard, like an old film had been placed over her memories from the last ten minutes. Nothing was very clear. "I think Bunny went with the Unseelies… didn't he?"

"I… think?" Jack seemed skeptical and he didn't say anything for a moment. And then: "Hey, look at this."

It took an extra second or two for Alice to turn around, still concerned that she didn't know where the other Guardians had run off to. Then her eyes fell on an object Jack was shining his staff's light on. It was sitting on the top of a tin can that was molded into the shape of an old singular fire pit. It seemed odd to have it sitting in the middle of the room but what was odder was what was on top of it. An hourglass was resting there, a steady stream of sparkling gold sand trickling from the top onto a large pile at the bottom. It looked like the hourglass had been going for a while as there wasn't much gold sand left in the top sphere.

"Huh," Alice frowned at it. "Wonder who put that there?"

Jack dipped his head a bit to look closer at the hourglass. His eyes squinted at it, following the stream of gold as it continued to flow mutely into the bottom.

"Does that… does that look like flecks of gold to you? Like, real gold?" he asked her worriedly.

Alice went to lean forward as well but she stumbled a bit and Jack jerked back to quickly help her right herself.

"Whoa, you okay?" he asked, giving her a once over.

Alice opened her mouth to say that yes, of course she was fine, but then her vision doubled. She fell forward once more and Jack had to catch her in his arms, his staff falling out of his grip and smacking onto the dirt floor with a loud _clang_.

"Alice?" he asked, voice panicked. He gritted his teeth and used all his strength to hold her up, arms circling around her waist. He felt her hold his shoulders in a light grip. "Alice, what's happening? Did you hurt yourself?" he kept one arm held firmly around her waist in order to brush the curly hair out of her face. Her eyes looked clouded and far away like they were seeing something entirely different than what was there. "Alice?"

"Jack," she finally said, voice a light whisper. There was an edge of hysteria to it that made Jack's stomach clench. "Jack, I can't—Jack, it's happening again. I can't see you… where did you go? Please…"

"I'm right here, Alice," he said forcefully, shaking her a bit. "Do you feel me? I'm _right_ here."

"I see a white room… I'm in the room again, Jack," tears were beginning to form in her eyes and Jack's face twisted with worry. "Make it stop," she whimpered, skin pinching between her eyebrows. Her once pink cheeks had paled, the only color standing out on her face being the light brown freckles on the bridge of her nose. Jack's eyes were wide as he stared down at her, mouth hanging open. He didn't know what to do. What was he supposed to do? "Please, Jack," she begged quietly. "I'm scared, please… I don't know what's real. I don't know how to tell. Please make it go away…"

"Okay just—just relax, okay? I'm here. I'm holding you, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," his head whipped from left to right to try and find something that could help him. He cursed. There was nothing there. They were in some random room underneath a ton of bedrock and the others were nowhere to be seen. They had nothing. "Shit. _Shit_ , how did this happen?" he asked himself.

He licked his lips and hoisted her up when she began to slip. Her body was trembling against his torso and he felt himself beginning to panic. What the hell was he going to do? If Rumpelstiltskin was inside her head then maybe he was trying to distract them. Maybe he wanted all their focus on her so he could take care of the other Guardians. Or maybe this was some sort of warning that he was coming after them and Jack needed to think of something quick before they were both screwed.

"Jack, are you still there?" Alice asked quietly. He felt her warm breath fanning against his neck and he shivered, feeling his own arms begin to shake in alarm. The light from his staff was starting to dim as he got more and more unfocused. "Please don't leave me, Jack," he had a feeling she didn't know what she was saying. She was talking just for the sake of talking.

"I'm here, Alice," he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, hoping some sort of plan would just magically spring to life inside his brain.

"Jack? _Jack?_ " Alice's voice rose shrilly. Jack jerked his head down to look at her and her eyes were wide but still unseeing. "Jack, I need to find Max! He was right here! He was in this chair… that had to have been him! He was here and now he's not anymore! Jack!" she started wrestling against his hold and he grunted as she squirmed, trying to keep a hold of her without hurting her.

"It's okay Alice, we'll find him. We'll find Max, just calm down! You have to calm down!"

"No, no! I need to find Max! I need to find him!"

Her arms flailed and he grabbed a hold of her wrist. She swatted at his chest with her other hand and Jack quickly grabbed it too, wincing a bit because the girl could really pack a punch.

"Hold still, Alice!"

"NO! You're not real, you're _not_ real. Let go of me, I need to find Max! This isn't real!"

She pulled back, waving her arms around while Jack still held onto her wrists and he huffed. He didn't want to leave any bruises but she was leaving him with no other choice. Like hell he was going to actually let her go so she could run off without seeing straight and hurt herself even worse. Jack pulled her into him and as a last resort she began kicking her legs. He avoided them the first few times but when she kneed him in the thigh he grunted and almost lost his grip.

"You're not real! This _isn't_ real!"

" _Damnit_ , Alice!"

He yanked her forward without poise and planted his lips on hers. She froze immediately, her lips soft and warm and unmoving against his. He released her wrists and moved his hands up to cup her jaw, holding her steady against him. He felt her arms rest limply against his chest, her breathing still uneven and he tilted his head. He pressed his lips more firmly against hers until they fell into place like a missing puzzle piece. There was a lightness in his chest he'd never felt before and his eyes fluttered shut only for a moment before he pulled away and their lips disconnected with a smack.

"Was that real?" he asked loudly, thumb pressing against the slight dimple in her cheek. Her eyes were wide and hazy as they stared up at him, lips still puckered. "Huh? Did _that_ feel real to you, Alice?"

Her breath stuttered and then she opened her mouth, pupils still clouded as she whispered ominously: "I can't tell."

Jack clenched his jaw and he wanted to hit something. Pull his hair out, throw something, freeze the entire fortress, he didn't know. He felt something bubbling dangerously in his stomach and he was just a few seconds away from losing it when he heard clapping.

His head snapped up, eyes zeroing in on the far side of the room where a dark figure stood, slowly clapping its hands together as it watched him. There was a pair of small, round eyes that glinted white off the beam of light from his staff and for once he felt his blood run cold.

The figure chuckled darkly and the sound resonated in Jack's gut. He felt Alice slump against him and he didn't realize it but her eyes were no longer clouded. She panted against him and he held her close, tensing when the figure took another step inside the room.

"Bravo. I must say that was a valiant effort," the creature praised, chilling voice sounding vaguely amused. "Very heroic, honoring the old legend of true love's kiss saving the damsel in distress. You're old school. I like it," he nodded, pointing at Jack with a long bony finger. He grinned, his mouth stretching up the side of his leathery face and his razor sharp teeth glinted silver in the blackness of the room.

Jack slowly lowered his hands from Alice's face down to her arms, gripping them tightly before he pulled her to his side.

"You're not getting her," he stated lowly. He tried to steady his trembling hands as he moved her to where she was standing behind him. She gripped his shoulder as she came to, glancing around his arm at the creature blocking their only exit. "You'll have to go through me first."

Rumpelstiltskin laughed, the loud maniacal sound bouncing off the walls as if threatening to make them crumble down.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that," he announced jovially. "She's not what I'm here for. This has never been about her or the boy."

Jack squinted in suspicion at the creature as he grinned widely. He felt something coil painfully in his stomach as he began to stitch the pieces together. Rumpelstiltskin gave him another appraising nod, mouth growing impossibly wider as he smiled.

"I must say, I have been very, _very_ eager to meet you, Jack Frost."

* * *

 **A/N: So the explanation of the super long wait for this chapter is on my profile. Yes, I know I'm an idiot. But at least it's finally out. I'm so amazed that this story now has over 100 favorites and follows. You guys are the best and reading your reviews still makes my day :)**

 **So the next chapter is going to be mostly action-packed and then the story's going to focus a lot on Alice and Jack which I'm so excited for. Thank you for all the feedback! Let me know what you think of this chapter and what you think is going to happen. I love hearing all your theories. Hopefully it won't take as long for me to get the next chapter out! Until next time xoxo**

 **~blair**

 **(also wow we reached the one year anniversary of this story, I can't believe it's been that long! when I posted this I was almost 22 and now I'm getting ready to turn 23. crazy how time flies, huh?)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Warnings:** Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

 **Disclaimer:** I claim no copyright ownership to _Rise of the Guardians_ or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

* * *

 **LONG-WINDED APOLOGY AND EXPLANATION AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER BE WARNED OH MY GOD**

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen — Part One**

* * *

Jack was tense as he stared at the creature in front of him, the silence so silent that it was loud aside from one whispered phrase.

" _This has never been about her or the boy."_

For a second he didn't want to believe it. Despite the fact that he was a Guardian, despite the faith that North had in him, despite the fact that _Manny_ —glory be, the Man in the Moon himself—hand chose him… despite _all_ of that… he was just Jack. Jack Frost. The guy no one believed in, the guy who created snow storms and invented snow days, the guy who would never grow up… the guy who always screwed everything up. He was just Jack. And yet, somehow, this _thing_ seemed to think he was important. Someone worthy of a wild goose chase at the hands of a creature who wanted everyone he loved dead. So no, he didn't want to believe it. For once, Jack was sick of believing.

A small part of him recognized the vice grip Alice had on his arm but he was having a hard time focusing on anything but the man's—the _thing's_ —words.

" _This has never been about her or the boy."_

It was about him.

Max had been captured because of him.

It was something he had always suspected but had never been proven to be true. That is, until now.

It took a few seconds before Jack realized he was angry. Really angry. Whether that anger was at himself or the arrogant thing in front of him he didn't know but he used that anger to his advantage, feeling a spark of frost ignite in his palm itching to burn cold through the thing's nervous system. Jack glared daggers at Rumpelstiltskin who had a self-satisfied smirk on his leathery face, his fists clenched at his sides as his eyes narrowed.

"Alice," he said quietly, the tremble in his voice barely contained as he kept his eyes locked on the monster not twenty feet away from them. "I want you to go find the others. Look for Max."

The air vibrated with tension between them and he felt Alice shift uneasily against his back, the anxiety emitting off of her in waves.

"I don't want to leave you alone with him, Jack," she whispered, tone wary and stiff.

"Listen to me, Alice," Jack continued, still crouched defensively as if waiting for a surprise attack. Rumpelstiltskin looked to be planning nothing of the sort, his wiry posture relaxed and composed as he watched their interaction with cool disinterest. "Do as I say. Find Max. He's most important, right?" he echoed her earlier words.

She immediately fired back, "Not at the cost of you."

It was like déjà vu. Jack growled lowly in his throat, momentarily unappreciative of her defiant streak, but before he could say anything else Rumpelstiltskin inserted himself into the conversation with a breezy smile.

"Would you like a little nudge out the door?" he asked, voice light. Jack didn't miss the idle threat hidden there and his lip curled, frost sparking from his fingertips.

"You don't get to talk to her," he snarled.

"No?" Rumpelstiltskin countered, lifting an eyebrow. "I believe I just did," he waved a thin hand in the direction of the doorway behind them. "Run along, pet. It's time for the big boys to have a little chat."

Jack glowered at the use of the word 'pet' but he nudged Alice all the same, risking a glance over his shoulder. She looked terrified, glasses askew and pink-cheeked with her hair matted as she stared wide-eyed up at him. He chanced a smile, one that was tight and lacking emotion, before giving an imperceptible nod.

"I'll be fine, Alice. Go," he jutted his chin towards the door.

Alice was still hesitant, spine stiff and fingers digging claw marks into his arm, but she carefully began backing away. She kept her eyes on Jack's, unwilling to look away as if she were storing his face to memory. He pursed his lips, the angle of his body following her movements to ensure he was always between her and Rumpelstiltskin. Before she disappeared completely into the darkness , Alice's worried expression faded into one more serious. Jack wasn't able to read the emotions there but he sensed that she was trying to convey something important through them. There were many ways to discern that look but Jack took it for something much simpler.

 _Don't die_.

He gave another nod and she seemingly evaporated into thin air, her frame slipping around the corner. The only thing that proved she hadn't disappeared completely was the pitter-patter of her shoes rustling in the dirt as she tried to navigate through the endless rooms. Jack wished he could've given her his staff for light but he had a feeling he was going to need it.

"Oh good," Rumpelstiltskin breathed, forcing Jack's eyes away from the empty doorway. "I thought she'd never leave."

Jack schooled his features, morphing the rage there into one of icy impassiveness. His eyes were sharp and crisp on Rumpelstiltskin who appeared much more relaxed, thriving in his element of grand surprise. Jack remained tense, the muscles in his limbs feeling tight like coils ready to spring the second Rumpelstiltskin instigated a fight. For the moment though he seemed much more keen on talking.

"So," Rumpelstiltskin clapped his hands together once and the sound reverberated in the room, rattling Jack's skull. He motioned theatrically to him. "Jack Frost. I mean. Wow. I must say it is an honor to meet you. The Guardian of Fun in the flesh," he flashed his razor sharp teeth. "You've aged like a… like a fine wine, though only on the inside."

Jack's lip curled as Rumpelstiltskin chuckled at his own joke.

"Right," said Jack. "You've got me right where you want me. So whatever it is you've got planned, just get it over with."

"Now, now," Rumpelstiltskin protested lightly, stepping to the side as if about to circle Jack like a predator. Jack carefully turned with him to keep a safe distance between them. His eyes momentarily flicked downward, noticing that he was inching closer to his staff that still lay abandoned on the ground, the glowing light on its hook a dull beam of white. "You can't have your cake and eat it, too. Well, you can, but I like to savor the moment before the devour, don't you?"

"Not really," Jack clipped. "I prefer cutting to the chase, like ripping off a Band-Aid."

"Interesting," Rumpelstiltskin seemed to swallow Jack's words and taste them like they were the cake. Like what he said really did interest him. Jack was too on edge to try and figure out why. "You know, I've heard stories about you, Jack Frost," he pointed a spindly finger at Jack. "Of course, most of them are just that. Stories. None of them do the real thing justice. You're different than what I expected but I shouldn't be surprised. It's my fault that I believed the stories. I should've anticipated your true nature. That was bad judgment on my part."

Jack frowned despite himself.

"What stories?"

It was strange enough to know that stories about him were being passed down and it bothered him even more to know that things like Rumpelstiltskin were able to get their hands on those stories. Who (or what) else had heard about him, about the Guardians, through legend? And how many of them became curious because of them?

"The Big Five," Rumpelstiltskin gestured dramatically. "The protectors of children. The warriors of imagination, wonder and belief. Most of you are too modest to acknowledge how powerful you really are," Rumpelstiltskin's eyes grew intense, "and some of you are unware of how much power you actually have. It's darling, really, how the other Guardians have you trained so well. Like a puppy learning to obey and follow commands."

Jack's eyes flared at this and Rumpelstiltskin noticed, choking out a quick laugh.

"Don't worry, it's a compliment. Really. That's exactly the way you should be. It's how I want you to be. I just find the concept of training wheels on, say, a motorcycle very endearing. That is what the humans call those motorized contraptions, isn't it?" he checked before exhaling slowly. "Ah, I suppose I don't have the right to judge. I don't know what it's like to have my powers on a short leash."

"Powers you _claim_ to not want?" Jack mocked, mirroring Rumpelstiltskin's movement as he stepped to the side again. Jack's staff was only about a foot away.

Rumpelstiltskin's gaze alighted with sadistic glee.

"So you've heard stories of me as well," he deduced, seemingly enjoying the limelight. "Very good. Fortunately for me they really hit the mark."

"So they're true?" Jack asked skeptically, opening his hand a bit the closer he got to the staff. Rumpelstiltskin was too busy smiling to notice. "You really don't want your powers?"

"Well technically I never asked for them," Rumpelstiltskin inclined his head. "But I'm not exactly going to complain about getting them. While they're useful, anyway."

"And what use do they have for you?"

All Jack needed to do was kneel and he'd have his staff but he didn't want to make any sudden movements in fear of setting Rumpelstiltskin off. Despite his intentions being to keep Rumpelstiltskin occupied while Alice got away, his interest was piqued.

"Just getting me where I need to be," Rumpelstiltskin answered evasively. "Lucky enough for you, you're able to help me get there."

"Lucky me indeed," Jack muttered sarcastically.

"Honestly though, I thought you would be a lot quicker on the uptake. I mean, I basically drew you a map. I couldn't just walk up to you and _tell_ you what was going on, I needed _you_ to catch up to _me_."

Jack shook his head impatiently. "Why?"

"Because it's no fun if you don't play the game," Rumpelstiltskin answered in exasperation. "That trick with the gold, though. Pretty clever, huh? Learned about it in that nifty little storybook. Which, by the way, spinning straw into gold? Preposterous," Rumpelstiltskin said as if the very idea offended him. "And I care not for children but it was a fun little experiment. Centuries on this planet with no chance of stopping, you tend to get bored. You of all people should understand that."

"Not when you're playing with an innocent kid's life," Jack's eyes narrowed. "Not when you mess with people's heads. That's not my idea of fun."

"They should change your title to the Guardian of Killjoy," Rumpelstiltskin rolled his eyes. He scuffed the toe of his dress shoes on the dirt. "You've got to get creative! Typical. Just as much of a spoilsport as I remember," he shook his head in false remorse. It took a second for his words to click and Jack was thrown off guard.

"Wait," he said, brows furrowed. "I thought this was the first time you've seen me? We've never met," he gestured between the two of them, disgusted with the idea. "I would've remembered."

"Ah," Rumpelstiltskin exhaled again. "I suppose the cat's out of the bag. Of course I haven't met you in particular but I have met someone very… close to you," he said, choosing his words carefully.

"If this is about Max—"

"Oh come now," Rumpelstiltskin waved his hand as if he could physically force Jack's words back into his mouth. "I thought we were past that already. No, I'm not talking about the child, I'm talking about someone in your past. I mean, where do you think your powers come from? You think you just inherited them by choice?"

"I was chosen," Jack told him, brows pulled low above his eyes. "The Man in the Moon chose me. I fell through some thin ice and that's where I got my powers. I remember."

Rumpelstiltskin didn't say anything for a moment. He had a look of expectance on his leathery face like he was waiting for the punchline to a confusing joke. When Jack said nothing, realization struck Rumpelstiltskin like a goldmine, his eyes glimmering with a callous sort of glee that unsettled Jack more than he cared to admit.

"They never told you," he said. He seemed genuinely surprised but no less pleased, like the tables couldn't have been turned more in his favor.

"Told me what?" Jack asked, an ominous feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

"My, my, they really have kept you in the dark. Naughty Guardians," he shook his head, a slow smile spreading across his abnormally large mouth. "You don't even know what kind of power you come from. Is this going to be an ancestry lesson?" he asked, seemingly to himself, but Jack ignored him.

"You mean to tell me that I'm a _descendant_ of a Guardian?" he asked, incredulously slack-jawed. Rumpelstiltskin opened his mouth to respond but before he could get a syllable out Jack started cracking up in laughter. Clearly this wasn't a response Rumpelstiltskin was expecting as he watched on with an expression Jack couldn't read as he tried getting a hold of himself. Jack grinned mockingly as he shook his head, his laughter fading into an emotionless chuckle. "Man, you couldn't be more off. I don't have any distant relatives in the business, okay? It's been three hundred years," he stressed, his blue eye hardening. "Don't you think I would've met them by now or at least known about them? You've got the wrong guy."

"Oh I'm fairly certain I don't," Rumpelstiltskin countered easily. "But circling back to your first incorrect statement, I believe you and I have two very different definitions of 'distant' relatives," Jack's eyes narrowed and Rumpelstiltskin bestowed him with a sharp smile full of poison. "I'm talking the far distance—long before even your precious Guardians got their gold stars in immortality. The bloodline's been a bit diluted since then but there's no mistaking the resemblance, even after centuries of genetics at play."

Jack glared at Rumpelstiltskin as he ambled casually towards him, stuffing his hands inside the pockets of his pinstriped slacks. Jack's spine straightened at their close proximity and under normal circumstances he would've recoiled but Rumpelstiltskin's all-knowing smirk had him rooted to the ground.

Rumpelstiltskin paused a foot away from Jack and examined him from head to toe as if he were assessing Jack's form. Jack jerked his head back when Rumpelstiltskin leaned in close as if eager to share a delicious secret. His beady eyes pierced Jack's and the gaze felt like it was curdling Jack's insides.

"Have you ever wondered why you were able to best Pitch Black?" he murmured in a conspiratorial voice. Jack's heart raced.

"How did you know about that?"

"C'mon Jack," Rumpelstiltskin grinned lowly. "People talk. Pitch Black is a glass half empty of sour milk on a good day but it's not often someone as… inexperienced as you is able to incapacitate someone of his stature," Rumpelstiltskin shrugged when Jack didn't have a response. "What, did you think you just got lucky? Maybe had some sort of adrenaline rush?" he reached forward to tap Jack's chest with a long bony finger but Jack slapped his hand away before it could graze his hoodie. "You had it in you all along, it's just been dormant."

Jack was at a loss for words. Truth be told he actually hadn't thought about what happened that night with Pitch; the night Sandy was killed. It was a memory he was all too eager to forget and even now the wound was still sore. Was this Rumpelstiltskin's plan? To catch him off guard? There was no way of knowing if he was telling the truth or just yanking Jack's chain as another distraction. And even though Jack was properly shaken, he tried not to let it show as he stared heatedly at the creature in front of him.

"Guess you and I are a lot alike," Jack agreed, feigning casual indifference. Rumpelstiltskin lifted a wrinkled eyebrow at this, missing the way Jack's hand glowed in tune with his staff's tip as if they were in sync. "We were both given power we didn't want and we're going to use that to our advantage."

In the blink of an eye, he reached down to grab his staff and the second his staff came into contact with his skin a burst of blue light emitted from it, knocking Rumpelstiltskin across the room and into the far wall. There was a loud clatter followed by a cloud of dirt obscuring Jack's view of the man trying to right himself and he used that opportunity to dart out through the doorway and into the adjacent room.

He couldn't see very well because the light from his staff was flitting across the walls like a strobe light from his erratic movements as he ran but he didn't let that slow him down, occasionally slamming his shoulder into a splintered wooden doorframe and nearly knocking himself off balance. Aside from messing with his equilibrium it aided in his momentum and he stumbled out into the main hall where he and Alice split from the rest of the Guardians and Unseelie Guards.

Panting loudly, Jack tossed his head from left to right before taking off down the left corridor and further into the heart of the mountain. There was an enraged shout from behind him followed by quick footsteps echoing into the hallway he was running down.

"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME, JACK FROST!"

Jack's breathing was ragged as he followed the hallway at every winding turn, his bare feet sliding on the worn carpet and kicking up dirt in their wake. He had no idea where he was going or what the plan was. He thought maybe once he put some distance between himself and Rumpelstiltskin he could clear his head and figure out what to do next but as he ran, feeling the air grow colder the further he buried himself under layers of stone and rock, he realized his mind was completely blank. He had no idea what to do.

"YOU FORGET," Rumpelstiltskin continued, his voice wavering as he sounded both miles away and like he was directly behind Jack, "I HAVE YOU RIGHT WHERE I WANT YOU!"

Jack's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. His lungs felt like they were on fire and for once he didn't feel invincible. He no longer felt like this intangible thing that the Guardians made themselves out to be, like a wisp of smoke always just out of reach. Of all the years he wished his life or existence or whatever it was Manny made him would just end, he now wished it wouldn't. He was reminded of Max; that the boy was still trapped in here somewhere and the rest of the Guardians were vulnerable. Alice was off on her own probably terrified and lost. Now was not the time for Jack to lose.

"KEEP RUNNING," Rumpelstiltskin's echoing voice spat, forcing Jack out of his thoughts. "YOU WON'T FIND A WAY OUT. I LOVE A GOOD GAME OF TAG, BUT MAYBE I SHOULD REFRESH YOUR MEMORY ON THE RULES. FIRST PERSON I FIND IS 'IT'. YOU BETTER HOPE IT'S NOT ONE OF YOUR PRECIOUS GUARDIANS OR THAT INNOCENT CHILD."

Jack made a choked gasp despite the fact that he was already panting. He skidded into one of the dirty walls on his next turn and it took him ramming his shoulder into a sharp stone in the wall to bring himself to a stop. He gripped his shoulder with a pained wince, ears still ringing as Rumpelstiltskin's voice taunted the stifling air.

"I WILL MAKE SURE YOU HEAR EVERYTHING I DO TO THEM," Rumpelstiltskin cackled, a maniacal, inhuman sound that sent shivers down Jack's vertebrae. Now Jack was sure the creature's voice was closer. Maybe a few hallways down. He slumped against the wall, his feet and lungs throbbing as he tried to catch his breath. The light on his staff was flickering as his body heat rose from all the heavy cardio. He needed to cool down before he rendered himself completely useless. "YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I PICKED YOU, JACK? YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU'RE SO IMPORTANT?" Jack collapsed forward, resting his hands on his knees as he bent over the ground. His head was throbbing. "YOU KNOW MY STORY, JACK. YOU KNOW WHAT I DO. FIGURE IT OUT!"

And it hit Jack instantly. All this time it wasn't Max's soul Rumpelstiltskin wanted. It was his.

* * *

North was disoriented.

The more turns he and Tooth took, the more everything started to look the same. Once they rounded their fourth corner, the faded tapestries on the stone walls started to blur and contort the way heat made the road ripple and warp at a great distance. It wasn't common for a Guardian to feel things such as nausea or dizziness because Guardians weren't threatened by disease or other human limitations but North was starting to become unsteady and ill at ease. It must've been the maze of hallways he and Tooth had surpassed and the way everything blended into one—there was no reason for him to think any different.

"Something's not right," Tooth murmured anxiously on his right, not for the first time. She was walking on foot rather than fluttering nervously at his height, which was uncommon for her, but North didn't have the emotional range to concern himself with it now. If only his head would stop hurting.

"Of course not," North lamented. "That is because we have only been going left."

He meant it as a joke but it came out so monotonous that the comment went over Tooth's head. Her wings were ruffling fitfully against her back like they could sense the wrongness in the air and North found the constant movement irritating.

 _Y—you…_

North lurched at the foreign voice inside his head. He felt his brain throb and pulse at the intrusion and he lifted the heel of his palm to his forehead in hopes of easing the pain. North blinked against the thin film that coated his eyes as they turned another corner, this hall about as long and dark and dirty as the last. Had they gone in a circle?

 _Youu…_

North's head twitched and he rocked his head from left to right as if to de-clutter his mind. Tooth stumbled back as North lost his footing and fell into her side. As she was barely half his size there was no hope of her holding him up so it was a miracle he managed to right himself.

 _Y—you need to…_

"Oh," North groaned, cupping his face in his hands. It felt like the voice inside his head was a physical thing trying to dig its way into his frontal lobe. Tooth was already giving North an alarmed look, her tiny feathered hands holding onto his beefy arm, and her grip tightened when she heard him struggle. "What is this?" North asked himself.

In the flurry of his discombobulated thoughts, North recalled the girl—Alice—hearing a voice whisper poisonous things to her, things only she could hear. Idly he wondered if the same thing was happening to him but he didn't have much time to reflect on it before the voice was intruding again.

 _Sssave him…_

"North? North, what is it? What's happening?" Tooth asked, her voice shrill and squeaky. Her gleaming purple eyes reflected the horror she felt as North suppressed another groan. By this point they had both stopped in the middle of the hallway, unaware of the approaching figure that continued to spout threats a few hallways down. "North? I need to find one of the Unseelie's…"

North opened his mouth to respond, maybe to reassure her he was alright or to remind her that they had no idea where the others were, when another wave of discomfort pushed through his skull. His white moustache twitched as he moaned.

 _Sssave himmm…_

 _Nicholasss…_

North's forehead wrinkled, his brows brimming with perspiration. Tooth was shaking his arm, trying to bring him back to reality but it only succeeded in making his head hurt worse. It felt like there was a bomb ticking away inside his brain matter and it was only a matter of time before it exploded. At this point, North didn't care as long as it made the pain stop.

 _Save him, Nich-o-lasss…_

The voice was getting clearer and a ringing began in North's ears, making his eardrums tremble. There was a dull ache in North's kneecaps and in the back of his mind he realized he was much closer to the ground than he was before. Tooth's voice was muffled and faraway in his right ear and the smell of stale dust and earth clogged North's sinuses.

"Stop…"

 _Save him…_

"North?! North, can you hear me?"

"I need a minute…"

 _You need to… save… him…_

"I'm going to go find someone. Just wait here, I won't be long—"

"Just stop… too loud…"

 _Important… p-protect…_

"Just hold on, North, hold on…"

"Don't go… my head…"

 _Sssave him…_

"No…"

 _You have to._

"No."

"North, what are you—?"

 _I command…!_

"SHUT UP!"

 _SAVE HIM, NICHOLAS. YOU MUST SAVE HIM._

"WHO?!"

There was silence.

Tooth was crouched on the floor a few feet away, eyes glossy and red as she gazed at North in fear as she pulled at the little feathers on her arm. Her pink lips were trembling and North's breathing was haggard and wheezing as he stared, wide-eyed, right back. Aside from a vague hum in his temples there was no more pain. He didn't feel the presence of the disembodied voice inside his head, his thoughts didn't feel violated, and his heart raced as his blood pressure steadily began to lower. He felt like he ran a marathon as he sat there crumpled in the dirt. As he inhaled he felt the thick, chilly air stick on the walls of his throat and he coughed into his closed fist until the feeling went away.

As North regained his bearings, his mind began to work in overdrive to compensate for the limitations the voice put on his brain power. He thought about Rumpelstiltskin and even though his head felt invaded he didn't feel anything dark left behind. Something about that voice struck a cord inside him, something deep in his core that said he recognized the voice. Not necessarily the way it sounded but the way it spoke. He'd heard it before. Long ago.

"Tooth…" North's mouth hung open, still sucking in air.

"North," Tooth choked. With trembling arms she crawled towards him and lifted a tiny hand to his cheek. "What happened to you? Was it Rumpelstiltskin? Has he affected you?"

North wasn't positive but something told him to say no. He shook his head slowly as if unsure and Tooth's forehead wrinkled in anxious confusion.

"No… no, I do not believe so."

North's thoughts were racing like a marathon and it was a wonder he was able to keep up. Even though the voice was gone it still left traces of its presence behind except not in his head. The feeling was in his gut. He felt something heavy and warm consume his chest and even though it didn't make any sense, it felt like a sense of purpose.

And that's when North understood.

There was a flash of pictures darting across the forefront of his mind and his eyes flicked from left to right quicker than Tooth was able to keep up. North felt like he was being blasted into the past. He felt a rush of cold and then his eyes widened and he was suddenly back on his feet. His strength seemed to have replenished for he yanked Tooth back up to her feet as if she were a cotton-stuffed doll.

"Jack is in danger," North announced. And then they heard it.

"— _WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU'RE SO IMPORTANT? YOU KNOW MY STORY JACK. YOU KNOW WHAT I DO,_ " North listened in horror as Tooth shrunk beneath the power of the deep voice. " _FIGURE IT OUT!_ "

"Oh no…"

"North!" Tooth jerked him towards her with surprising force and his head whipped down at her, eyes still wide. There was a fire in the fairy's eyes that said she wasn't going to move an inch until he gave her some answers. "Tell me what just happened," she demanded. "Who were you hearing inside your head?"

North watched her for a moment.

"It was Manny."

* * *

Jack had to fight against too many instincts raging inside him.

The first told him to keep running. To keep as much distance between him and Rumpelstiltskin as possible because, yeah, he was scared. He was really scared. He'd been in mortal—immortal?—danger a few times now but it'd never been about his soul. He didn't even know souls were bargaining chips, much less physical things that could be removed from one's body.

How did you go about ripping a soul away? Was it painful? Would he still be alive even if his soul was somewhere else or would he die the second it was stripped away? He spent most of his existence fearing the unknown but this was a different kind of unknown. The unknown he was used to was never an actual threat to his life.

And then there was the vindictive side of him that didn't want Rumpelstiltskin getting his way. If it was Jack's soul he wanted, Jack was going to do everything in his power to make sure that didn't happen.

His second instinct told him to run into this fight headlong. For as long as he could remember, Jack always had that underlying urge to enact vengeance. There was some primal part of him, probably the part that Rumpelstiltskin referred to as "dormant", that wanted to do the exact opposite of what everyone else told him to do. Because he knew what North would say if he were here. He'd tell him this fight was bigger than himself and that it was in his and everyone else's best interests if he got far away from it. He was part of a Guardianship now and Guardians did things together. It'd be reckless for him to try and fight alone. And that's exactly why he wanted to do it.

He liked being a little reckless and a little disobedient. Maybe that was the teenager in him talking, proving that even though he was centuries old he never actually grew up. Whatever the case, he felt he had the right to go after the thing that was already trying to go after him. And Rumpelstiltskin surely deserved a little payback for taking Max.

But what if his impulsiveness got everyone hurt?

What if running away made them get hurt anyway?

That's what Rumpelstiltskin said, wasn't it? Whoever he found first, he was going to hurt. Even if it wasn't Jack.

It was a catch twenty-two. What was he supposed to do?

Ultimately it was Rumpelstiltskin who made his decision for him.

One second Jack was bent over, panting and fighting a headache, the next something hot and electric pierced his side. The force sent him flying down the passageway and he landed in a winded heap on the dirt ground, his staff lying between him and an enraged Rumpelstiltskin, having lost his grip on it midair out of surprise.

Jack groaned, a dull ache pulsing in his right leg and shoulder from the rough landing. The hall was much darker now that a few clumps of dirt covered the hook of his staff but even still he was able to see a hunched black figure prowling towards him with stooped shoulders and a dark orb hovering over its outstretched palm. Jack squinted at it as he tried kicking himself away. It looked like the orb that had returned Pitch's powers to him except instead of red, this orb glowed a faint shade of purple.

"Have you figured it out yet?" Rumpelstiltskin rasped, his beady eyes glinting silvery white in the reflection of Jack's staff on the ground. Jack pulled himself up onto his feet unsteadily, feeling a tingle in his ribs where the bolt of purple energy hit him. "You're my way out, Jack… after years of searching I finally found my ticket to freedom."

"My soul is going to _free_ you?" Jack sputtered, lurching out of the way as another bolt of energy was blasted his way. It didn't look like Rumpelstiltskin was aiming to hit him because Jack knew if that were the case he wouldn't have missed.

"It's going to _cleanse_ me," Rumpelstiltskin hissed, eyes glinting dangerously like a venomous snake ready to strike.

Jack stumbled a bit, walking backward as Rumpelstiltskin slinked forward. Their shadows pranced across the walls as they moved and a pang of fear struck Jack's heart. It made it look like they weren't alone, like visions of the dead were dancing around them in wait. It was ominous and made his insides feel colder than usual, like the icy grip of death was reaching inside him. He knew it was just his paranoia but it didn't make the feeling go away and he nearly tripped over his feet as he tried walking faster.

"Don't you see?" Rumpelstiltskin continued, advancing further on Jack. "You're meant for something much greater than yourself. Haven't you ever wondered what your true purpose was? Becoming a Guardian brought you closer to me," his eyes flashed, empty but maniacal. "You're my way home."

"Home?" Jack asked, hating how his voice wavered. "To the Moon people? The place you were banished from?"

"No," Rumpelstiltskin grinned, his mouth curving up the side of his face. Jack chanced a quick glance over his shoulder and saw they were turning down another hallway, this one much wider than the last. "I have a new destination in mind. I've been stuck in limbo for centuries, trapped between this world and the next. It's time to move on."

"And you think I can help with that?" Jack asked, unable to believe it. What good would his soul do? How was his soul worth any more than anyone else's?

"I know you can," said Rumpelstiltskin. "You're pure, Jack. In all my years I've never seen anything like you—anything so bright. Except for one."

"The person you think I'm related to," Jack hedged warily. Rumpelstiltskin smirked, his silvery teeth gleaming.

"I tried him first," Rumpelstiltskin said, looking somewhere over Jack's shoulder as he hunched forward as if deep in thought.

Their movements had slowed, Rumpelstiltskin walking forward and Jack walking backward at a somewhat leisurely pace. Jack's eyes flashed behind Rumpelstiltskin. He could no longer see his staff as it lay abandoned in the previous hallway but he could still see the dim light from it. He flexed his fingers experimentally and felt a wave of cold there, like he was steadily powering up again. His eyes moved back to Rumpelstiltskin and thankfully the movement had gone unnoticed.

"I tried catching him but it was useless. He was too heavily guarded, the place was too crowded," Rumpelstiltskin shook his head as he relived the memory, disgusted with his own sense of tact. "Seemed ironic that a protector was being protected but I guess it makes sense when that person you're protecting is a Prince. I was captured quickly and cast down but not without putting up a good fight. You're similar to him in many ways and the moment I got word of you, of a bright Guardian who bested Pitch Black with a single strike of electrifying power, who managed to smother his darkness with their light, I knew you were the one. My one-way ticket. Next time you're in Santa Claus's archives, maybe you should take a look at your family tree."

Jack's eyes narrowed and a memory flashed in his mind.

" _Maybe after this is over you could educate yourself."_

" _Educate myself?" Jack's face twisted as if he tasted something sour._

" _Yes," North sounded amused. "You can never learn too much. There are many books that speak of powers like yours, of Guardianship, other mystical beings you probably didn't know existed…" he trailed off, smirking a bit at Jack's pursed lips._

Was North really keeping something from him?

Rumpelstiltskin huffed a laugh through the slits in his nose.

"Afterlives are pesky things. When you're a Guardian you've passed on already, this is your afterlife. But me? I'm stuck somewhere in the middle. Not alive but not dead either, trapped here for eternity. It wasn't even my _choice_."

"We don't _get_ choices," Jack countered shortly, shaking his suspicions off for now. "Do you think I chose to die and be reborn at the age of seventeen?"

"WHAT YOU HAVE ISN'T A CURSE!" Rumpelstiltskin snarled, spit flinging from his lips.

"Yours didn't have to be either!" Jack fired back. He squeezed his hand into a tight fist to hide the frost sparkling in his palm. "It was given to you against your will but you're the one who made it a curse! Instead of doing something good with it, you did the same thing your father did! You let it control you!" Jack yelled, unable to hold back his anger. "That's on _you_! You can't play the victim anymore. If there's one thing I've learned from being a Guardian, it's that even though we're handed a life we didn't ask for, it's up to us to choose our fate. Maybe it sucks but that's how it's got to be. You've damned yourself."

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes narrowed and his face darkened. The murky purple orb glowed in his palm.

"I'll show you damned. Tag, you're it."

And the fight was on.

Jack was quick enough to dodge the first blast but the second one nailed him in the collarbone and he slammed against the adjacent wall with a yell. He felt a little stunned but he swiftly righted himself and shot a beam of frost at Rumpelstiltskin followed by three more in quick succession. Two managed to hit him and the other two took out a good chunk of the stone wall behind him, sending shrapnel flying in the air. Jack turned and ran while Rumpelstiltskin recovered to put more space between them and then he fired another shot of frost over his shoulder.

A beam of purple-black bolts charged past him and he ducked as another bolt passed over his head. He reached the end of the hallway and skidded to a stop at the entrance of a large cave. Jack suspected this was the center of the mountain and he was surprised to find that most of it had been hollowed out. There were wooden beams supporting the top of the cave in the shape of a triangle to prevent cave-ins, making the ceiling look oddly cathedral-like. This must've been the main room of the refuge.

There were rapid footsteps behind him and Jack made to dash forward but a pair of bony hands gripped the back of his hoodie and tossed him to the side like a ragdoll. Jack winced as his knees scraped against the rough floor but he quickly spun around on his knees and pulled himself up, only just standing straight when Rumpelstiltskin lunged at him with outstretched leathery hands. Jack wasn't too confident with close combat without his staff but he knocked Rumpelstiltskin's arms away and then greeted him with an uppercut to his jaw. There was pain in his knuckles but he ignored it in favor of ducking to the side underneath Rumpelstiltskin's arms. As he righted himself again, he elbowed Rumpelstiltskin in the back of the head.

This only succeeding in making Rumpelstiltskin angrier and with a war cry he threw his arm back and blasted Jack in the side of the head with a bolt of dark energy. Jack saw stars and he fell to the ground, the other side of his head bouncing off the dirt. His eyes were half-lidded as he tried to see straight, the world doubling and tripling around him. Pain exploded behind his optic nerve and he felt something blunt and heavy slam into his nose. He lurched onto his back, cringing at the pain and somewhere in the back of his head he heard a voice whisper,

" _Your staff."_

For a second he had no idea what it meant but then he remembered where his staff was. If he could just get to it, he might have a better chance.

Before he could even think about sitting up, he felt a jolt of heat and electricity shock his chest cavity and he screamed as Rumpelstiltskin aimed one relentless beam of purple energy at his torso. After a few seconds the creature relented and the pain stopped, leaving Jack gasping and choking for air as his eyes watered. It felt like his heart had been stopped and restarted again, a sharp pang resonating in the muscle with each weak beat.

"I have to admit this is a little disappointing," Rumpelstiltskin said breathlessly. "Was this the kind of fight you put up against Black? He must be weaker than I thought."

Jack couldn't channel his powers so instead he aimed a kick at Rumpelstiltskin's kneecap. The creature screamed and stumbled and Jack blinked his eyes rapidly. He was halfway up before a punch was delivered to his cheekbone and he fell back down with a groan.

"Pathetic," Rumpelstiltskin spat. He walked with a slight limp towards Jack's prone form, his spindly fingers glowing a deep purple. "I was hoping I wouldn't enjoy this so much. I'm giving you my all here, the least you could do is show me the same respect!"

Jack's palm glowed again, this time with sparks of blue frost that cut in and out of focus and Rumpelstiltskin watched with a sick smile.

"That's right," the creature purred. "Your staff's gone missing, hasn't it? Not much of a threat without your walking stick."

Jack groaned again and this time it sounded desperate. He tried focusing his anger on his palms in hopes of powering himself back up but it was like his powers surged into his hands and then, upon realizing his staff wasn't there, they dwindled back down, useless. Rumpelstiltskin displayed some twisted sense of pleasure at watching Jack squirm, his smile still sharp and evil.

"Maybe I'll do one last thing before cleansing myself," the creature murmured. Jack gripped his chest with a pained expression, only half listening as Rumpelstiltskin talked seemingly to himself. "One last act of iniquity. If I've cursed myself, as you say, then might as well live up to the reputation. I wonder how your precious Max's neck will feel," he grinned wickedly, "as it's being crushed in my fist?"

"You leave him the hell alone," Jack gasped.

"Or what about those lovely Guardians, hm? Maybe if I mount their heads on a spike, it'll warn others not to defy me. It'll teach them fear and respect. It'll show them their place."

"No," Jack hissed through clenched teeth. His head was still swimming from the blow and if he were human, a mortal one, he was certain he wouldn't be conscious.

"Yes," Rumpelstiltskin's eyes burned with glee. "And maybe I'll go after that pretty girl last. Mighty innocent, that one, with such a strong will to boot," Jack's eyes flashed and he grinded his teeth. Rumpelstiltskin noticed and his grin widened. "I'll make you watch as I rip her heart from her chest and make you wait until the final beat. I'll make you watch everything from start to finish, watch as every person you care about dies. If only I didn't need you," Rumpelstiltskin tsked. "The greatest punishment of all would be to live on without them, to exist in this world alone knowing all of them died because of you. Shame it won't play out that way. It's rather poetic, don't you think?"

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with, huh?" Jack grated, trying to hold back another groan. Rumpelstiltskin rolled his eyes.

"What have I told you about being a spoilsport? Because it's no _fun_ ," he pouted and even that managed to look frightening. "I like a challenge. Life moves too slowly when you can just _take_ the things you want."

Jack blinked and suddenly his staff was in Rumpelstiltskin's hand. He dropped the staff carelessly onto Jack's chest.

"Here, since you _need_ it. Use it. And get on your feet."

Jack struggled to his feet with a grunt, clutching his staff tightly in his fist. The wood hummed in his grip and he cast a steely glare at Rumpelstiltskin who tossed his head back with a boisterous cackle, spreading his arms wide.

"We're gonna go out with a bang!"

* * *

Alice clutched the dusty wall to her left and paused halfway down the corridor, the thrumming of blood pumping behind her eardrums the only sound she was able to hear over her ragged breathing.

Alice's biggest problem was that she had very human eyesight. The halls of this underground passage were the blackest of black and her only way of moving forward was by clutching the wall as she walked. It was her only way of knowing that she was making any sort of actual progress because everything looked the same. The darkness around her was so dark that it looked like a solid black mass constantly inches from her face, so black and absolute that she felt she could reach forward and dip her finger in it like a pool of liquid and ripple the surface. At first she thought she'd gone blind.

She rested her temple against the wall and closed her eyes, though it didn't look like she closed them at all. She'd been walking for what felt like an eternity but in reality was probably only fifteen minutes or so. She never risked taking her hand away from the wall, afraid that if she did she'd be surrounded by nothing but air on each side. This meant that she always went left. Wasn't that the trick to solving a maze? To always go left? Or was it right? She couldn't remember.

A few times it felt like she slipped into another set of rooms, the walls swooping out at odd angles like they were opening up. When she first left Jack, she never actually returned to the main hallway. She hadn't realized where she was going and instead branched off from one of the rooms down a separate corridor. The air was stale down here and even more stifling, reminding her of how far underground she was. It made the walls around her feel like a tomb.

But she kept onward because, well, she didn't have much of a choice.

Giving that her eyes were rendered useless, her other senses had been heightened. Every sound she heard, whether it was her shoes crackling against the dirt on the ground or her fingers caressing the dried out tapestries on the wall, it sounded magnified. And every time she stopped moving and just listened, she could've sworn she heard the pitter-patter of footsteps behind her. She tried convincing herself it was all in her head, that she was just being paranoid, but it didn't make the sounds go away. Alice wondered if Rumpelstiltskin was alone down here or if he had accomplices wandering the halls, herding her and the rest of the Guardian like sheep into a trap.

The one thing that motivated her was the knowledge that Max was here somewhere. For the first time in days the two of them were finally in the same place.

She just needed to find him.

But she found as she progressed that her chances were starting to look bleaker and bleaker on account of several things. One, she had no idea where she was and unless she stumbled upon a flashlight that magically happened to have a full set of fresh batteries, she was never going to _see_ where she was going. Her sense of direction was completely off. Two, she didn't know how big this place was. From the outside it didn't look so much wide as it did tall but looks were clearly deceiving. And three, she was alone. Even if by some miracle she managed to find him, there was no telling what would be guarding him. She was no match for anything bigger than an oversized, sluggish cat and unless Garfield was the only thing standing between her and Max, she was already overpowered.

Those factors didn't stop her from moving forward though. And so she continued walking, hand still gliding along the wall as she stepped carefully. There were a few stray rocks and fallen debris that she'd nearly tripped over several times already. It would be just her luck that she'd trip and break her neck.

It felt like another eternity before there was a break in the monotony.

Alice just turned down another corridor when she heard a faint whistling, like fragile tuffs of air desperately trying to break through a small crack in the wall.

She stopped everything, even breathing, as she listened and tried to discern where the sound was coming from. The hair on the back of her neck began to stand as she stood there and she quickly turned her head, a pang of fear piercing her stomach. As expected she saw nothing but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. The nagging feeling started about a hundred feet back but she tried shaking it off. Now it was all she could think about.

Her breath quickened again, the sound echoing down the hall in tune with the whistling. What she wouldn't give for just a speck of light. Turning slowly back around, she pressed her ear close to the wall. The whistling didn't change in volume which meant it was further down the passage. She crept forward slowly, half of her attention still trained on the itchy feeling that sunk down the back of her neck. The further she walked, the louder the whistling got and she picked up her pace until the wall suddenly cut off and she fell forward.

She gasped (the echo of it bounced so loudly off the walls that she felt the ground rattle beneath her) and quickly righted herself, momentarily panicking at the lack of wall to grip onto. She waved her left arm until her fingers slapped against the wall once more. She expected to feel a wooden doorframe beneath her fingertips like usual whenever she entered another set of rooms but this time all she felt was sharp rock, like a hole had been blown in the wall. The whistling was clearly coming from this direction and, ignoring the spike in her heartrate, she turned into the room and scoped it out with her hands and feet.

Her hands danced along the uneven rock as she glided around the edges of the room. The whistling was so loud now that it sounded like it was coming from right in front of her. Her hands rose a couple of inches and that's when she felt it. Cool air. Her fingers prodded the area, feeling a crease in the rock that must've gone all the way up to the surface. Her heart raced at the find but sunk almost as quickly.

 _That's it?_ she thought. _That's all it was?_

She didn't really know what she'd been expecting. Maybe she was hoping to find some sort of door that conveniently had Max sitting on the other side of it. But what would the whistling have been? An air conditioner?

Alice felt angry with herself. She slapped the wall for good measure but it didn't make her feel any better. Her arms fell down to her sides and her shoulders slumped as she steamed silently. And then that prickly feeling returned, lifting the hairs on the base of her neck. Her spine stiffened and she held herself still, though she figured whatever was down there had already seen her clear as day.

There was a quick shuffle, almost too faint for Alice to hear it, but for once her other heightened senses gave her the advantage. Her head twitched to the right, following the sound closely but she still didn't move. Instead she waited, chest heaving quietly, until she heard the shuffle again.

This time it was directly behind her.

A scream rose in Alice's throat but before she could let it out she felt a pair of cold hands yank her backward. She landed hard on the sharp ground, a pained _oof_ escaping her lips as the wind was knocked out of her. She scrambled back, feeling the hem of her shirt tear on a stray rock. There was a snarl followed by something heavy and solid shoving her to the ground. She yelled and lifted her arms, swinging at anything she could reach. She hit the thing's face several times but it only urged the creature on.

She turned in the thing's grip and tried crawling away, only to be pulled back by the collar of her shirt. She kicked out her legs and once she found the thing's leg, she kicked and kicked until the thing let her go with a yelp. It took a while for her shoes to get traction on the ground but once they did she propelled herself off the ground and took off through the hole in the wall and into another passageway. She still couldn't see in front of her and several times she ran hard into a wall, her mind scrambled by the growls and scratches coming from behind her as the thing chased her.

Alice wasn't very athletic but she had at least one thing going for her: she was a fast runner. Her lungs burned and protested as she ran, the muscles in her legs contracting more than they were used to but she didn't stop for anything, even the feeling of fingers trying to tangle themselves in her hair. An involuntary scream spilled from her lips at the thing's closeness.

As she was edging the end of another hallway, she could swear she saw an orange glow at the turning point. Her head was pounding and she tried to not think about anything as she forced her legs to push her as fast as they could. Her momentum caused her to smack into the wall before she could turn the corner but she spun on her feet and continued on down the hallway towards the light as the thing slammed into the wall only a second after she did.

This time she was certain the hall was illuminated by some sort of light and even though the light was weak Alice's eyes still had a hard time adjusting. She could see sharp rocks, debris, and faded carpet strewn about the floor as she darted across it and the walls were only about seven or eight feet apart in width, giving little room for error as Alice stumbled over large boulders and wooden planks.

She didn't dare turn around to see what the thing chasing her looked like because she knew it was close on her heels. Instead she turned another corner, her shoes sliding in the dirt, and that's when she saw an open doorway at the end of the tunnel on her right where the light was coming from. She ran for it despite the way her lungs and head ached and just as she was about to reach it, the thing behind her leapt and struck them both to the ground.

Alice yelped as she was crushed beneath the thing's weight, her head coming dangerously close to slamming into the ground with all the force of a jackhammer. She felt moist breath puff in her ear and she screamed as chills raced down her spine. The fingernails that dug into her shoulders felt distinctly human and she tried wiggling out of its grip by flailing her arms and legs. The thing grabbed a chunk of her hair and yanked her on her side and that's when she saw what it was.

It looked very similar to the Unseelie Guards that accompanied them except this one had blood-red eyes and a wicked snarl on its dark lips. That's when she remembered the rogue faerie that aided Rumpelstiltskin. This must've been it. She wondered if it'd been creeping along behind her in the shadows ever since she separated from Jack.

Alice had no real way of defending herself from its attacks so she reached her hands up and curled her fingers around its neck in hopes of keeping its sharp teeth away from her. It hissed and growled and thrashed in her grip and for a moment Alice forgot this thing was a faerie—a creature she once thought to be gentle and kind. She succeeded in holding the Fae back for a few seconds but its strength was undeniable and as she began to tremble at the elbows, she knew she wasn't going to be able to last much longer. Its long fingers scratched at her cheeks and arms and she tried lifting her knees in hopes of throwing the thing off balance.

After the third attempt it worked and the thing toppled off of her, still lashing out at her in a fit of rage. Her hair was pulled, her sleeve was torn, and there was a distinct scent of iron in her nose from the cuts the Fae left on her face but she pulled herself forward on her elbows the second she was freed. She crawled the rest of the way to the doorway, just barely able to glance into the room and what she saw made her freeze.

There, sitting on an intricate chair that must've once been regal and revered, was a blonde-haired boy slumped over its arm in a distinctive pair of Iron Man pajamas.

Max.

Alice choked on her own tongue, her heart freezing up the way a giant turned to stone from the sun, and that's when she felt something sharp pierce her side.

She screamed and pushed against the Fae that lodged three of its sharp nails into her side. Though the sight of Max had momentarily rendered her immobile, she fought with a renowned vigor this time. She kicked her legs out again and when that didn't work, she lifted one of her arms over her head, feeling along the ground for something— _anything_ —that she could use as a weapon. Her eyes kept flashing back to the motionless boy in the chair as she searched desperately, wincing at the way her skin tore and stretched against the Fae's nails. She used her other hand to swing back and hit the Fae in the jaw. It kind of felt like she fractured the outside of her hand but the adrenaline numbed the pain.

She grappled for all of seven seconds, still trying to kick at the Fae that seemed to be cackling with glee, when her fingers curled around something sharp and solid. It was a piece of rock that had chipped from the walls.

That'll work.

She swung with all the might of a batter from the NBA. The hit was a straight bull's-eye and the Fae shrieked in agony as the rock slammed into its cheekbone. She hit it once, twice more and then used what little energy she had left to stumble to her feet and all but trip over to the chair Max was in.

Until she slammed into an invisible wall.

The collision knocked her off balance and she barely had the bearings to right herself, staring in shocked confusion at the doorway that didn't appear to be blocked at all to the naked eye. And yet, as she tried running forward again, some obscure force stopped her from getting any further.

"No! _No!_ Max!" she pounded her fists on seemingly nothing, staring wide-eyed at the pale boy who didn't stir in his chair. "MAX!"

A strangled sob bubbled up from her throat. The Fae was twitching violently on the floor, still partially clutching its face, and then its deep red eyes glared up at her. Fear swept over her and she quickly looked around the doorway. If the room was blocked off by magic then there was no way Alice was getting in.

The Fae snarled before surging up, grabbing onto Alice's hair and shoving her head back against the invisible wall behind her. Alice cried out and struck the Fae's nose with her fist, hearing the sickening _pop_ of one of her fingers at the force. The only proof of the punch was the pain in Alice's hand because the Fae continued to growl and shove her back until her shoulder blades got sore. Its long dark fingers curled slowly around her neck and then it squeezed.

Alice's hands immediately went to the Fae's wrist to try and pry its fingers off but the grip it had on her throat was relentless. Alice kicked at its legs but the more she wiggled around, the more pressure was put on her throat and she gasped for air.

"Max…" she wheezed, feeling blood pool between her eyes as the oxygen was cut off from her brain.

She felt heat in her face and then her nose and lips began to tingle. She dug her nails into the Fae's arms as a last resort but it was a weak attempt and her eyelids began to droop. The Fae's ugly face grew fuzzy and blurry and there was a blackness at the edge of her vision threatening to blind her. Her lungs contracted as the flow of oxygen stopped and there was a tightness in her chest before her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

'Max,' fell from her blue lips but no sound came out and she slumped against the invisible wall.

" _Sheila!_ "

Alice's eyes fluttered at the unfamiliar voice and the Fae's iron grip loosened on her throat, caught off guard by this new creature's sudden appearance. There was a _whoosh_ on the air and then Alice was released completely and she fell to the ground, coughing and holding her throat as she desperately sucked air back into her lungs. Her head was throbbing and her eyes watered as she hunched over, spotting a pair of shiny, blueish grey paws in front of her as the Fae was attacked by her mystery savior.

Once Alice didn't feel like she was going to pass out, she blinked up at the scene before her with clearer eyes and realized that the voice she heard wasn't unfamiliar at all. Bunny wrestled with the Fae, his boomerangs at the ready as he swiped the Fae's shoulder with one of them. Alice's breathing was still shallow as she shakily rose to her feet, turning her back on the fight in favor of looking Max over.

"Max!" she called, voice hoarse. "Max, can you hear me?"

He didn't move and she reached down to retrieve the rock she smashed the Fae's cheek with earlier, slamming it into the invisible wall over and over again to no avail. She shrieked in anger, knowing her attempts were futile but furious that she had no idea what to do. She heard a yelp behind her and turned to see Bunny stumbling to the ground with the rogue faerie hissing down at him, its blood-red eyes glowing in rage. Without thinking, Alice lunged forward and slammed the rock on the back of the Fae's head.

Bunny looked dazed as the Fae tripped over him. Alice would've tried helping him up but the faerie still wasn't down, its horrifying eyes set on her once more. This time she backed herself up into the wall trying to put some space between them but the Fae closed the distance quick. Alice saw Bunny right himself and he glared at the back of the Fae's head.

"Alice!"

"Bunny, the room!" she ducked as the Fae tried to strike her. "Max is in there, Bunny!"

"What?" Bunny gave her an incredulous look.

Alice, for lack of anything better to do, grabbed one of his boomerangs off the ground and swung it at the Fae's legs. The Fae howled and teetered back, giving Bunny the opportunity to grab the faerie in a headlock. Alice stared at the fading sparks that had emitted from his boomerang at the contact, feeling an idea growing. She couldn't penetrate the wall because she didn't have magic, but maybe a magical weapon could.

"Look out!"

Alice kicked herself away from the wall as Bunny slashed the Fae's cheek with his other boomerang and the faerie collapsed into a flailing heap in the spot she was occupying only seconds prior. Alice staggered to her feet, using the stone wall to pull herself up as Bunny huffed.

"We need to get in there!" she said, pointing to the room. Bunny's eyes widened when he finally noticed Max's slumped form. The faerie was already stirring again and Bunny scowled before crouching defensively.

"This guy just won't quit," Bunny said crossly.

"I have an idea, you just… just distract him, okay? Keep him away from the door," Alice instructed, gripping the boomerang in her hand tightly. Bunny grinned through his barred teeth.

"Not a problem."

Alice kept herself out of the danger zone as the faerie twitched and spasmed, spit flying from its lips as it snapped at Bunny like a wild animal. Alice studied the Fae as it lunged for Bunny, thrown off by the creature's behavior. She'd never seen an Unseelie faerie act so savage before. It was practically foaming at the mouth. Was that what happened to Unseelie's who went AWOL? She didn't have enough time to think on it and instead hunched in the shadows as she waited for Bunny to lead the Fae away from the door.

The two sparred for a moment, their arms flying wildly almost at a speed Alice couldn't keep up with. For a moment she was awestruck by Bunny's dexterity, only just then realizing how much of a warrior he actually was. At first she was afraid he'd be at a disadvantage with only one of his boomerangs but he was holding his own fairly well, either blocking or matching the Fae's strikes. It took a minute but eventually Bunny gained the upper hand and shoved the Fae down the hall. The faerie lost its footing and skidded to the ground, letting out a piercing shriek as Bunny jumped after him.

Alice saw the opportunity and took it, running to the doorway of the room. She re-gripped the boomerang and it hummed in her hand much like Jack's staff had when he let her hold it, and with a cry she lifted her arm high before striking forward with all her might. The boomerang pierced the invisible wall and for a moment the wall became tangible, flickering like a ghost on an astral plane before disappearing completely.

Alice fell through the doorway with a grunt but kept her footing until she got to Max's side, collapsing against the chair as she yanked him into her arms.

"Max," she cried, wrapping her arms tight around his little body. He slumped awkwardly in her embrace and she stuffed her nose in his hair as she squeezed him against her chest. "Max, I found you. I _found_ you. I'm so glad I found you."

A few tears fell into Max's matted blonde hair and she inhaled his warm scent, basking in the fact that she had her son back.

She was so caught up in the moment, too overwhelmed and elated to realize yet that even though Max was here, he wasn't breathing.

* * *

 **A/N: I know what you're thinking. "I thought she was dead?" And trust me, I am, but only on the inside.**

 **But okay. All jokes aside. I can't even begin to tell you all how sorry I am that it took _nine months_ to get this chapter out. I bet hardly any of you even remember this story and if you do you're probably like, "Wow, I have to go re-read this entire thing because I have no idea what's going on." AND I DON'T BLAME YOU. Just recently I read this story all the way through again and realized how much still needed to get done. It wasn't that I lost interest in the story or anything, it's just that life has been so busy the past year and I feel like I haven't had time to think. Honestly, time just got away from me because it doesn't feel like it's been that long since I wrote a chapter to this but at the same time it feels like an absolute eternity. And I just wanted to say I'm genuinely sorry for leaving you all hanging like I did. **

**Good news is, things have calmed down (for the time being) and since re-reading this story, I've fallen in love with it all over again. Over the past few months I forgot how important this story was to me so it's a relief to get that back and feel like I'm actually capable of writing more. I find it funny that at the end of the last chapter I was talking about how I started writing this story when I was getting ready to turn 22 and that at the time of that chapter, I was getting ready to turn 23. Well now I'm only three months away from turning 24. Like seriously, pull yourself together and just finish the story already, goddamn.**

 **To anyone who's still with me: I hope you enjoyed this long overdue chapter. I'm sorry if my writing is sub-par, it's been a minute since I've written anything worthwhile so I'm a little rusty. I feel like even more of a jerk for making this chapter a 'part one' but honestly, this chapter is already over 11k words as it is. I didn't want to make it unbearably long and exhausting to read. Also, I'm considering changing the title of this story. As much as I love Aimsir, I think there's a more fitting title out there somewhere for it so if you come back to the story and think to yourself _'what the fuck is this?'_ yeah, that's why. I also may be revising a few of the earlier chapters because, in reading through everything, I've found some errors and things that could be improved upon. I don't want that to take priority over writing new chapters, I'm just saying it could happen on one of my off days where new material just isn't coming to me.**

 **So now that I've written another 500 words onto this monster chapter, I'm going to shut up. Again, I'm sorry for making everyone think I abandoned this story. For a while it kind of felt like I did but I still want to finish Jack and Alice's story. We're over halfway through the story so here's to hoping I'm able to see it through to the end. Thank you guys for all the reviews, favorites and follows you've given this story. I appreciate every last one of them and I love all of you. Until next time~**


End file.
